Halo
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.
A/N-thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it.
Chapter Eleven-Phasma
Rey fled the castle, in tears, running into the verdant woodland that stood just outside of it so she could be alone. The woodland seemed ominously quiet. She paused, now that even the sound of her own footfalls was silent, all that could be heard was the susurration of the leaves in the gusty wind. Looking up, she became transfixed by the myriad of fluttering leaves that danced in the high boughs, making a living roof above her. Suddenly she heard some familiar beeps coming from behind her and she whirled around to find that BB-8 had followed her. Part of her was relieved that the little astromech was with her, but the greater part was frustrated that she couldn't seem to catch a minute alone just to gather her thoughts.
Sighing, Rey hunkered down in front of the jittery droid and readjusted the aerial on top of his head which had worked its way loose when it hurried to catch up to her. She screwed it back into place and smiled sadly. "You need to go back to Han, BB-8. He's the only one who can help you."
The concerned droid responded with a series of anxious beeps and whistles as he expressed his wish to stay with her. More tears welled in Rey's eyes and she leaned down and hugged the faithful little astromech. She had never known a droid like BB-8. He was so loyal.
"I wish I could stay with you…but I have to get home. I've been away too long." She whispered.
BB-8's head drooped in despair, making Rey feel guilty. She stroked its metal dome head tenderly and tried to make it understand why it was so imperative she return to Jakku. "I'm so sorry." She said again.
A dark shadow blocked out the light above them. The dappled shade of the woodland which had seemed an inviting refuge when she had first run into it, now seemed anything but. Rey looked up, her eyes scanning the skies above the treetops, trying to work out what was blocking the light filtering through the foliage. What she saw nearly stopped her heart with fear-First Order transports filled the sky, a minute later followed by the familiar whine of Tie Fighters as they streaked behind the huge warships.
Takadona was under attack.
Rey fled back to the castle with BB-8 hot on her heels, only to find it was under heavy bombardment from the First Order. Rey's first thought was for Han and Ben who she presumed were still inside. Chewbacca had remained behind with the Falcon, so she wasn't too worried about him. He had an avenue of escape. Tension grew in her face and limbs as she lingered on the outskirts of the wood, panicking about what to do. All she had to defend herself was the blaster Han had given to her. She wasn't experienced with the weapon and for all she knew would probably be a lousy shot. Any sane person would take the chance to flee and hide somewhere until the worst was over, she thought to herself, but there was no way she could leave Han and Ben behind while she hid like a coward.
With the decision made, Rey pulled the blaster out of her belt and held it limply in her hand. Oh, how she missed her quarterstaff, but she had stupidly left it behind on the Falcon. "Pull yourself together, Rey." She scolded herself. "It's not as if the staff would be any use against laser fire anyway."
Rey knew she must seriously be losing it if she had sunk to the new low of talking to herself. She rolled her shoulders to ease the tension in them and jutted out her chin determinedly. "I can do this." She muttered. It was only when she took a few tentative steps forward that she realised that BB-8 was still with her. She halted abruptly, causing the jittery little astromech to bump into her leg. Sighing, she glanced down at the worried droid and looked at it with sympathy. "BB-8, you can't come with me. The information you're carrying is too important. You need to find a good place to hide. I'll come back for you I promise."
BB-8 let out a sad whistle, its dome head drooping in defeat. Rey leaned down and stroked the back of its head in affection, before urging it to go back into the woodland. BB-8 finally complied, its head remaining down as it rolled back the way they had come. Rey waited until the droid was safely out of sight before she chose to continue her journey toward the castle. But even in this she was thwarted. To her chagrin she found that her presence had already been discovered. She noticed stormtroopers approaching her position and fired on them, hitting two before running back into the woodland in the opposite direction that BB-8 had taken.
Han had just ordered something to eat when he saw Rey shoot past him as if she was being chased by a platoon of stormtroopers. By the time he called her name she was long gone and so was the little droid. Han threw his hands up in exasperation when he noticed BB-8 was missing as well. "Just great." He muttered under his breath as he slowly rose from his chair, intent on finding out what the hell was going on. "And where is Ben?"
He didn't have to wait long for the answer to that question. Kylo stormed into view, barging his way roughly through the other patrons who were too slow to get out of his way, even using the Force on some of them when they began to protest. Han sighed heavily as he quickly intervened to stop his chaotic son from starting an all-out brawl. Some of the more hardened smugglers were already drawing their weapons.
"What the hell are you doing, son? Calm the fuck down." Han hissed as he stepped in Kylo's path, stopping him from cutting a swathe through the rest of Maz's customers. "You're attracting too much attention."
Kylo barely acknowledged it was Han talking to him through the red haze of his anger. He was breathing but the air just wouldn't go in, like his lungs were surrounded by metal bands. He was desperate to find Rey and he was tiring of all the obstacles in his path.
Han realised his son was in no state to hold a coherent conversation. He decided his best course of action was to get Kylo away from all the prying eyes. It was obvious something had happened between him and the young scavenger. Kylo struggled to express himself eloquently at the best of times, goodness knows what he had said to Rey to make her dash off like that. He should have thought twice before asking the inexperienced girl to keep an eye on his son while he talked to Maz.
"Let's get out of here. Then we'll talk." Han ordered harshly. He saw the fiery burn in Kylo's eyes at being told what to do, but Han remained unintimidated. Instead he raised his forefinger at his son, warning him to hold his tongue, before turning abruptly and marching outside.
"What did you say to her?" Han demanded as soon as they reached the entrance.
Kylo glared at Han. As usual his father was jumping to the usual conclusions. Of course, he would think it was something he had done that made Rey run away. He felt as if his lungs were slowly filling with water, as if there was just less space in them for the air. Inflating them felt like pushing up a lead weight on his chest as a lifetime of resentment threatened to overwhelm him.
"I haven't got time for this, old man." He seethed. "I need to find Rey."
Han frowned, his hands finding their way to his hips. Not for the first time he wished he was privy to what was going on in his son's head. When Ben was a young child, he had done his best to connect with the boy, trying to find common ground with him, but not being Force sensitive himself, he had always felt lacking. Han was a wanderer, an adventurer, a scoundrel to the bone. He was made to star in bedtime stories, not to read them to his kid. To break the rules, not to enforce them. To roam alone, not settle down with a family and home. Suddenly finding himself with a young kid to raise, especially one as sensitive as Ben, he had felt overwhelmed and had fallen into old habits to cope. Han felt as out of depth now as he had then and he struggled to find the right words to express his thoughts.
"If you have nothing to say to me, then get out of my way." Kylo snapped impatiently.
"Just hold on a minute." Han said roughly as he blocked his son's path again. He took a deep breath as he dug his heels in. "There's a lot you don't know about women."
"Are you seriously giving me a lecture right now?"
"You need it." Han argued hotly.
"What do you know about women?" Kylo scoffed.
Han just about refrained from rolling his eyes. "Clearly a lot more than you do."
Kylo couldn't believe he was having this bizarre conversation with his father right now. It was almost laughable how Han was trying to give the benefit of his wisdom after ignoring him for most of his life. "I don't have time for this. I need to find Rey."
"I think you should give her some space. I saw the poor kid rush past me in floods of tears." Han revealed.
"She was crying?" Kylo felt the steel bands around his lungs tighten a little more at the knowledge of how truly distraught she really was. It made it all the more imperative he find her and explain.
"Yes, Ben, she was sobbing her heart out." Han exaggerated a little in an attempt to keep his son's attention. "I don't know what happened between you, but whatever it was really upset her."
Kylo sucked in the air as if it was treacle. He suddenly couldn't breathe. Why was it so hard? There was a tightness in his throat as a feeling of dread settled in his stomach like a lead weight. He was forced to tune Han out as he concentrated hard on just breathing.
Something was wrong…something…. instinct made him look up and that was when he saw the first of the First Order transports and Tie Fighters soaring across the sky.
"Get back to the Falcon." He yelled at his father. "I need to find Rey." He began to run toward the woods.
"Shit." Han swore as he took off after his son. "Wait, I'm coming with you."
With only her blaster to protect her Rey did her best to evade the stormtroopers, using the trees for cover. In the end there were too many and she was soon overwhelmed. Backed into a corner, she fired haphazardly, some of her shots hitting their target, but as soon as one trooper was down, another took their place.
"Lower your weapon, child. You are clearly outnumbered. Don't be a fool." A tall trooper, dressed in shining armour coated in chromium and wearing a cape in black and red, a symbol of the First Order, strode toward Rey with their own weapon raised and ready to fire. "Do you know who I am?"
Rey shook her head as she slowly lowered her blaster. She knew the game was up.
"I'm Captain Phasma." A surprisingly feminine voice announced proudly as if she expected the name alone to strike fear into Rey. When Rey showed no reaction, her whole demeanour changed. Her voice became harsher as she roughly snatched the blaster out of Rey's hand and threw it to one of the other troopers under her command. "I've heard some interesting reports about you." Phasma continued as she grabbed Rey's arm and jerked it up roughly behind her back. "Our spies in the castle informed us you've been seen in the company of Kylo Ren. What is your connection to him? Why would he be hanging out with a pathetic scavenger like you? What are you hiding?"
Rey blinked uneasily, her eyes streaming with water as Phasma increased the pressure on her arm. "I don't know what you're talking about." She gasped.
"So, you want to do this the hard way I see. General Hux is very interested in talking to you." Phasma sneered as she used the butt of her blaster to strike Rey on the side of the head, knocking her unconscious. "Take her back to the transport and inform General Hux that we have captured the girl and that we will continue the search for Ren."
"Yes, Captain." The lead trooper saluted the Captain before motioning the others to help him lift Rey's limp body off the ground.
A/N-thanks for reading!