Book 1:

The Force Awakens

Chapter 7: Rescue

Chewbacca sits on a bed in the med bay. Dr. Kalonia uses a device to help heal his shoulder. Chewie talks to her in his usual groans.

Dr. Kalonia, "that sounds very scary. You must be so brave."

Chewie agrees, trying to act all tough, which is saying a lot for a large creature like him.

C-3PO takes the data device from BB-8 and inserts it into a base computer. The projected map appears in hologram form. Leia enters, studying it, dispirited. Han, Mara, Jace and C-3PO are there with some others.

Jace is at a small work station as he looks at the map. We see him working on Nine, re-attaching the droid's head to it's body after so long.

C-3PO, "General, I regret to inform you, but this map recovered from BB-8 is only partially complete. And even worse, it matches no charted system on record. We simply do not have enough information to locate Master Luke."

Mara, "yep, that's my husband alright. Always covering his tracks."

Jace, "something you gotta admire, and hate."

Leia, "I can't believe I was so foolish to think that I could just find Luke and bring him home."

Han, "Leia…"

Leia, "don't do that."

Han, "do what?"

She heads off, "anything."

Flummoxed, Han follows looking at C-3PO.

C-3PO, "Princesses."

Mara chuckles at that as she looks at Jace, who's making great progress with Nine.

Han follows Leia across the base floor:

Han "I'm trying to be helpful!"

Leia, "when did that ever help? And don't say the Death Star."

Han sighs in defeat.

Jace looks over at his mom and says, "what about Hoth? Cloud City? Tatooine? Endor?"

Mara, "your aunt just loves to hold stuff over Hans head."

Both chuckle at the joke.

Nearby, we see BB-8 as he rolls over and finds, under a dark and dusty tarp in a corner, R2-D2. BB-8 beeps at R2, pulls off the tarp and tries to start a conversation. But R2 doesn't respond at all. BB-8 tries again. Nothing. BB-8 nudges R2. Nothing.

C-3PO, "BB-8. You're wasting your time."

BB-8 looks up at C-3PO, who stands there. C-3PO sighs and says, "it is very doubtful that Artoo would have the rest of the map in his backup data."

BB-8 beeps a question.

C-3PO, "I am afraid not. Artoo Deetoo has been in low power mode ever since Master Luke went away. Sadly, he may never be his old self again."

Back with Han and Leia.

Leia hears the change in Han's voice and softens. She turns as he says, "listen to me, will you? I know every time you… every time you look at me, you're reminded of him."

Leia, "you think I want to forget him? I want him back!"

Han looks at her with sympathy, "there was nothing we could've done", you can tell it's hard for him to say these things, "there was too much Vader in him."

Leia, "that's why I wanted him to train with Luke. With Owen and Padme there with him. I just never should have sent him away. That's when I lost him. That's when I lost you both."

Han, "we both had to deal with it in our own way. I went back to the only thing I was ever good at."

Leia, "we both did."

Han, "we lost our son, forever."

Leia, "no…. It was Snoke."

Han takes this in as she continues, "he seduced our son to the dark side. But we can still save him. Me. You. Even Owen could get to him."

Han, "if Luke couldn't reach him, how could I?"

Leia, "Luke is a Jedi... you're his father. There's still light in him. I know it."

General Stature approaches, "General, the reconnaissance report on the enemy base is coming."

….

Rey wakes, disoriented. She is in an angled, upright restraining rig. She looks over, startled to see Kylo Ren, mask in place, standing there."

Rey, "where am I?"

Kylo, "... you're my guest."

Rey, "where are the others? Where's Jace?!"

Kylo, "you mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends? The man who hides his past from you?"

Rey stares at him.

Kylo, "you'll be relieved to hear that I have no idea. Although if I know Skywalker's son…. He'll be here soon."

Rey studies him. She's fearful... but curious.

Ren continues, "you still want to kill me."

Rey, "that happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask.

Kylo Ren stops and considers her... then reaches up, unlatches and removes his mask. Rey reacts, stunned. It takes a moment before she regains her own mask of defiance.

Kylo, "tell me about the droid."

Rey is nervous, but replies, "he's a BB unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator-"

Kylo, "he's carrying a section of a navigational chart. We have the rest, recovered from archives of the Empire. We need the last piece. And somehow, you convinced the droid and Jace to show it to you. You. A scavenger?"

Rey reacts, afraid, 'how does he know?'

Ren continues, "you know I can take whatever I want."

Trepidation flashes across Rey's eyes. Kylo Ren moves closer, his hand rising toward her. She recoils, but has nowhere to go. Kylo Ren nearly touches her face.

They're both surprised. They react to a feeling that passes between them, an energy they recognize in each other.

….

Back at the base, Jace feels something as he sets Nine down on the ground, finally repaired.

Mara senses something as well.

They sense Kylo Ren.

But also something else.

Jace mutters, "Rey?"

...

Halfway across the galaxy, the connection was felt.

By three Jedi, all meditating in a field.

Two ships nearby.

Known as the Ghost and the Mantis.

An old woman with orange skin, white face markings and white head tails. Due to how active she was, she still looked great for her age.

An older man with red hair and a beard, with a dark blue poncho on.

And a slightly younger man with shaggy blue hair, and a goatee.

These three were the only remnants of the old Jedi order left alive.

Ahsoka Tano.

Cal Kestis.

Ezra Bridger.

All three spoke in unison at what they felt.

"Something has awakened."

….

And then it's gone. Adversaries again. Rey can't move, and quietly strains in agony, trying to resist Ren's probing.

Kylo, "... You're so lonely... so afraid to leave…"

Ren grows a slight smile.

Kylo, "at night, desperate to sleep... you imagine an ocean. I see it…. I see the island…"

Tears stream down her face as she resists. She tries to break free, but can't budge.

Fen continues, "and Han Solo. You feel like he's the father you never had. He would've disappointed you."

Rey continues to struggle.

Kylo, "and Jace…. You both feel something for one another. Even after only a few days…. "

His hand still on her face, her eyes fierce through the agony:

Rey, "get out of my head!"

But this just makes Kylo lean closer.

Kylo, "I know you've seen the map. It's in there... and now you'll give it to me. Don't be afraid. I feel it too."

Where her strength comes from, she doesn't know, but, "I'm not giving you anything.""

Kylo, "we'll see.

He peers into her eyes intensely. She meets his gaze.

Despite the pain, she feels a surge of strength enter her.

On Ren's face, his confidence begins to melt away. He has slammed up against a barrier in her mind. He looks less certain by the moment as Rey seems to grow in strength. The ferocity of confrontation builds until it hits critical mass.

And Rey does the unthinkable! She enters his head, amazed by what she sees!

Rey, "... You... you're afraid... that you will never be as strong as... Darth Vader!"

And before Kylo Ren can withdraw his hand, she sees the face of a young woman. And a name.

Padme.

Rey thinks, 'Owen's sister! She's alive!'

Kylo quickly withdraws his hand from her face, as if it were fire hot. He takes a step back, confused and rattled. Rey's body is released, she breathes deeply, exhausted fr9m the whole thing, her powerful eyes still on Kylo Ren, who starts to leave.

….

Snoke, "this scavenger, resisted you?

Kylo Ren, mask off, stands before Snoke.

Kylo, "she's strong with the Force, untrained but, stronger than she knows. And I'm certain that Jace Skywalker knows of this now!"

And while Ren's mind no doubt goes to Luke and Jace, Snoke asks, "and the droid?"

Kylo Ren hesitates to reveal the truth. But Hux enters and says, "Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us."

Ren turns back, seeing Hux enter the large space, and move to the platform beside Ren.

Hux continues, "that the girl was all we needed. As a result, the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already."

Snoke is visibly furious.

Snoke, "then the Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker. Especially his son, who would benefit from finding his father!

Hux, "we have their location. We tracked their reconnaissance ship to the Ileenium system."

Snoke, "good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon."

Kylo Ren is stunned by the moment, that isn't what he meant at all.

Kylo, "Supreme Leader. I can get the map from the girl. I just need your guidance."

Snoke, "if what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me. And in doing so, Skywalker's son will fall into our hands."

….

Back in the cell, Rey is shackled, mind still racing over what's happened between her and Kylo Ren. She is flooded with emotions, feeling her potential, her strength, that in this moment of being restrained, perhaps anything is possible.

Her mind is racing, despite how tired she feels. And somehow, she feels closer to…. 'Owen? I…. I can feel him. But…. How? Is this the Force? But how come I haven't been able to use it until now? I need help. But first, I need to get out of here.'

She turns to the Stormtrooper Guard. She studies him for an intense moment. Then she says, "you will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open."

The Stormtrooper Guard looks at her and says, "what did you say?"

Rey feels her strength go down a bit, but her eyes stay trained on him. She shifts in her seat, her confidence wavering, but she repeats, with authority, "you will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open."

The Stormtrooper Guard, rifle aimed, moves closer to her.

Rey's heart pounds as she feels a little more of her strength leave her. Is she about to be killed, freed, or laughed at? The tension, unbearable when the Guard says, "I'll tighten those restraints, scavenger scum!"

….

Kylo Ren, masked, rounds a corner, heading towards Rey's cell.

….

Rey stares intently at the trooper. Calms herself. And tries again with whatever strength she has left.

Rey, "you will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open."

The trooper pauses for a moment before saying, "I will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open."

He reaches down and unlatches the restraints. He then turns and starts to head out, her back to him as he exits. She is in shock. Then tries, quickly, "and you will drop your weapon."

The trooper, "and I'll drop my weapon."

The Trooper Guard drops his weapon without turning back.

Rey hears the gun fall. She's incredulous. The guard has left the cell with the door open!

Rey, in absolute disbelief, quickly gets out of the rig, but almost falls down, as she feels exhausted from using the force like that. She pushes through it as she runs across the room to the weapon.

….

Moments later, Kylo Ren enters the cell.

He takes in the empty cell, and immediately understands what has happened.

He grows enraged!

Kylo, "NO!"

In his unbridled anger, he rips out his saber and….

….

In the empty corridor, toward the cell, we only hear the horrible sounds. Destruction and yelling. A few pieces of red hot debris bounce into the corridor.

Two stormtroopers, crossing at the far end of the hall, stop to watch this display of pure fury. They retreat, and fast.

….

In the control room of StarKiller Base, workers are at their controls. A vast snowy landscape is seen outside.

Their gauges rise, the weapon charging slowly.

Hux, "begin charging the weapon!"

A technician says, "yes, sir. Weapon charging."

A vast view of the planet, a massive solarvac array surrounds a port ten miles in diameter.

Millions of panels turn on the array, a wave of brilliant reflections. Suddenly, like a planetary-scale tesla coil line of energy, the power of the sun begins to travel down to the Starkiller Base planet.

….

Finn, now within the inner circle of the Resistance, is huddled with the group around the map table, which displays

Airframe hologram of a rolling view of the surface of StarKiller Base. With Finn are Han, Leia, Jace, Poe, Mara, C-3PO, Statura, Nine, Ackbar, Brance, Snap, Major Ematt, Nien Nunb, and others. An urgent, messy strategy session.

Poe, "the scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report."

Snap, "they've somehow created a hyper lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself."

Brance, "a laser cannon?"

Snap, "we're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale."

Major Ematt experiences horrible memories as they say, "it's another Death Star."

Poe, "I wish that were the case, Major."

Poe hits a control. A wireframe of the Death Star appears.

Poe, "this was the Death Star."

Poe hits another control, the Death Star actually shrinks to a very small size, as the as the surface area of StarKiller Base is drawn into a much larger image, revealing the entire Base Planet. The Death Star is a minuscule satellite in comparison.

Poe, "this is Starkiller Base."

Jace, "it's way worse!"

This is news to many here, and they're stunned.

Han, "so it's big."

Mara mutters, "that's what she said."

Nine does the droid equivalent of a laugh at her master's joke.

Ackbar, "how is it possible to power a weapon of this size?"

Finn, "it uses the power of the sun. As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears."

Jace, "that can't be anywhere near good."

An officer runs up and hands Leia a datacard.

As Leia eyes the datacard, she says, "the First Order…. they're charging the weapon again, now…. Our system is the next target."

C-3PO, "oh my. Without the Republic fleet, we're doomed."

Jace, "thank you Captain Obvious!"

C-3PO, "you're welcome."

They all react to this horrible news.

Han, "okay, how do we blow it up?"

All eyes are on him.

Han, "there's always a way to do that."

But no one has anything. Leia watches the silence, frustrated. Finally, rallying them, she says, "Han's right."

Han is surprised.

Jace and Mara share a look as they see what's going on.

Admiral Statura, at first hesitant, says, "in order for that amount of power to be contained, that base would need some kind of thermal oscillator…"

Finn, "here is one."

All eyes on Finn as he moves around the hologram to a location on the Starkiller Base. it is zoomed in. A giant black hexagonal structure.

Finn, "Precinct 47. Here."

Admiral Statura hypothesizes, "if we can destroy that oscillator, it might de-stabilize the core and cripple the weapon."

Major Ematt, "... Maybe the planet."

Jace, "thus removing the threat to any other planets in the galaxy."

Poe then tries to bolster spirits, looking at the big structure: the Oscillator.

Poe, "we'll go in there and we'll hit that oscillator with everything we got."

Ackbar, "they have defensive shields that our ships cannot penetrate."

Han, "we disable the shields", he points to Finn, "kid, you worked there, what do you got?"

Finn takes a moment, and says, "I can do it."

Han, "I like this guy."

Finn, "I can disable the shields. But I have to be there, on the planet-"

Han, "we'll get you there."

Leia, "Han, how?"

Han, "if I told you, you wouldn't like it."

Jace, "I don't care how, but I'm going with."

Poe, "so we disable the shields, take out the oscillator and we blow up their big gun. All right. Let's go!"

Mara, "I could use a good flight!"

And everyone splits.

Outside of the base, the Resistance fleet prepares for its mission.

Pilots inspect crafts, including Snap, Nien Nunb, Mara at a grey ship called the Jade Shadow, and Poe at his black-marked X-wing. Mechanics make adjustments as Crews fuel the jets. Ground controllers move ships into takeoff formation. Pilots prep their ships, including BB-8, who is pulled into Poe's black X-wing.

Finn approaches Poe wearing the jacket.

Poe slaps Finn's shoulder as he heads off. Finn watches Poe, despite it all, a little laugh.

Chewie, Jace and Finn follow Han's orders as they prepare the Falcon for one more daring run, maybe its last.

Nine is helping inside of the ship, checking the systems for any problems.

Han, "Chewie, check that donal capitator. Come on. Let's go. Finn, be careful with those, they're explosives."

Finn, "now you tell me?"

Jace, "I'm not even surprised by this point."

Leia, "no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave."

Han looks over, there's Leia.

Han, "that's why I did it. So you'd miss me."

She laughs and moves up close to him.

Jace smiles as he sees the exchange from afar.

Leia, "I did miss you."

He looks at her and says sweetly, out of the blue, "it wasn't all bad, was it? Huh? Some of it was...good."

Leia, "... Pretty good."

Han, "some things never change."

Leia, "true. You still drive me crazy."

Jace simply thought, 'who doesn't he drive crazy?'

Han places his hands on her shoulders. It could be thirty years ago, as they share the same look with one another after all of this time. They both know there's a good chance he won't make it back.

They pull each other tight, holding on for dear life. Quietly, longingly, Leia says, "if you see our son again, bring him home."

….

Back at StarKiller Base

A stormtrooper, "sir, sensors triggered in hangar 718. We're searching the area."

Kylo, "she's just beginning to test her powers. The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous she becomes, and the less taxing it will be on her."

Kylo exits.

...

Meanwhile, in the Atrium area of the base, Rey peers nervously around a corner.

Rey runs down a long, glossy hall, taking cover in an alcove, the Trooper Guard's rifle held tightly in her grasp.

….

The Falcon screams as it flies through lightspeed.

Finn, Han, Chewie and Jace are all in the cockpit, with Nine slipping in behind them.

Finn, "how are we getting in?"

Han, "their shields have a fractional refresh rate. Keeps anything traveling slower than lightspeed from getting through."

Finn is suddenly filled with dread as he says, "we're gonna make our landing approach at lightspeed?!

Chewie, thinking it's crazy too, groans as if saying, "Hell yes we are!"

Jace, "if you weren't an amazing pilot, I would be freaking out right now!"

Han, "alright, Chewie, get ready."

Chewie groans that he's ready. Han studies the panel indicators.

Han, "and Now!"

Chewie and Han hit the switches.

The Falcon's environment shifts instantly from lightspeed to the planet's atmosphere! It's suddenly flying 100 feet above the snowy, rocky ground, headed for a thick forest!

Chewie groans loudly in fear.

Han, "I am pulling up!"

Jace, "then pull up harder!"

But the Falcon has no time, it plows through the trees! It then rises, with alarms blaring as the ship slams through a number of branches, and shoots towards the sky! Han does his best to steer, Chewie groans, as Jace and Finn hold on for dear life. In the madness Han yells, "I get any higher, they'll see us!"

And the ship dives again, back into the trees!

A quiet clearing on the forest treeline. Suddenly the Millenium Falcon hurdles out of the forest! From an eruption of branches and pine, the ship dives, slamming into the snow.

It digs through a thousand yards if white until it finally comes to a canted stop, half buried in the snow!

Jace, "ugh, another happy landing!"

….

An officer addresses Kylo Ren and says, "sir, she was not found in hangar 718 but all troops are on alert."

Kylo, "put every hangar on lock-down. She's going to try to steal a ship to-"

Suddenly, Kylo senses something. Something familiar.

He almost whispers the names.

"Han Solo…. Owen…."

….

Reviews:

mmat: spoilers, Han still dies.

Amanny: I am gld you liked the chapter, and I hope the fight between Finn and Phasma is epic!

….

Chapter came out later than I wanted it to tonight, but I still got it out!

As you can see, Rey becomes very tired after using the force for the first time, unlike the films, where she's talented right off the bat without it tiring her. Along with hearing her thoughts about the situation.

I also added a quick appearance from Ahsoka, Cal and Ezra, who also feel Rey's power.

Also, she sees that Padme is alive. But where do you think she is? With Luke? Or somewhere in StarKiller Base?

And finally, I have a poll up for what Rey should call herself at the of the story, since she's gonna be related to Palpatine and Kenobi.

There's four options.

Rey Kenobi.

Rey Palpatine.

Rey Skywalker.

Just Rey.

Vote while you can!