Halo
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A/N-thank you for the kind reviews on the last chapter.
Chapter Eighteen-Escape
Kylo Ren?
Rey felt a sudden urge to laugh at the absurdity of Rose's statement. She was wrong. So very wrong. She knew of the darkside apprentice. Of course, she did. Even on Jakku his fearsome reputation preceded him. Ben may have lost control right now-he had just heard Hux threaten to execute her-it would make anyone overreact. On Takodana, he had admitted to her that even though he wasn't actually a Jedi, he had been trained by his famous uncle, Luke Skywalker, in the ways of the Force.
"You're mistaken." Rey whispered defensively to Rose. "That's Ben Solo."
Rose stared at Rey bitterly. "Then why is he wielding Kylo Ren's lightsaber, huh? Look at it. Ren's weapon is unusual and very well-known. It has a rep all of its own. Explain that."
Rey stubbornly held onto her belief that she was right. Nothing Rose could say would sway her opinion that the guy she had spent so long nursing was really Kylo Ren. It was ridiculous. She tried to repress her anxiety as she glanced at Ben again. He had released Hux from his chokehold and now stood above him threateningly. Rey focused on the distinctive saber he was holding and she felt a cold shiver ripple down her spine as a tumult of memories consumed her. She remembered the terrifying vision she had experienced in the dungeons beneath Maz's castle. She hadn't understood most of it, but one scene stood out-the masked monster, dressed in full battle gear, with his knights arrayed behind him in the blood-soaked snow-and he was wielding an exact copy of the weapon that Ben was brandishing now.
Rey closed her eyes briefly in denial as she tried to shake the memory out of her head. It wasn't Ben. It couldn't be Ben. Somehow, he had Ren's weapon in his possession, but there could be plenty of plausible explanations for that. He was Han Solo's son. His uncle was the famous jedi, Luke Skywalker. His mother a princess and a general in the Resistance. Anxiety caused an electrical storm in Rey's brain as she tried to justify everything to herself. It became quite painful and she let out a restrained whimper. The pain was different from a headache and it felt the same as intense sorrow, perhaps as a sort of frozen panic.
Suddenly, the base was rocked by a series of intense explosions. Out on the rolling skyline, a lance like ray of blue-white light shot up into the gathering dusk-a clump of five rays, really, from five deep shafts in an irregular pentagon half a mile across, blended into one by the distance. An instant later, there was a blinding flash, like sheet-lightning, and a huge ball of varicoloured fire belched upward. Inside the base was in total chaos.
Rey had been thrown forward by the unexpected blast. Out of this shock, she felt herself issuing amid a mass of terrible sensations: the fearful blow of the explosion, the noise of glass, the hoarse howl of people, the rushing of men, the sound of many booted feet, the sudden gulf, the awful gulfing whirlpool of black smoke that threatened to choke her.
"Rose?" Rey gasped. "Rose?" She reached out with her hand through the blinding smoke until she finally made contact with the silky cap of Rose's hair. Rey coughed, her eyes streaming water as she pulled herself toward her friend. "Answer me, Rose! Please? Are you okay?"
The choking smoke continued to fill her lungs and she collapsed next to Rose's unconscious form as she succumbed to its effects. Her last coherent thought was for Ben as she wondered where in this hellscape he was.
There was another enormous explosion. A burst of orange flame punched its way out of the main complex. Smoke and fire rushed out. Thousands of pieces of glass and steel, a deadly rainfall, showered down. Alarms - shrill and deafening- erupted. Kylo cursed the Resistance to hell, his father must have disabled the shields earlier than he had expected, and instead of waiting for them to clear the base, the Resistance had decided to launch their attack immediately. Kylo felt a growing resentment building up inside him toward his mother. Why hadn't she waited? Why would she give the order to fire knowing they were still trapped inside and far from safe?
Kylo ignored the panicked chaos that was going on around him as the First Order troops desperately tried to escape the base before it collapsed in on itself completely. Hux had already fled like the craven coward he was. Ben tried to regain his focus as he searched for Rey in the billowing black smoke. Its cruel sting made his eyes water so badly that he could hardly see. He attempted to call Rey's name, but when he opened his mouth, all he succeeded in doing was breathing in the poisonous fumes. He coughed violently, staggering forward in the general direction he had last seen Rey. She was close. He could feel her.
The smoke wasn't completely opaque, but its long grey wisps seemed to curl with others that were much darker, some near black. These stretching entities would show themselves in short, dramatic eclipses. Out of this smouldering nightmare Han emerged, followed by Chewbacca and Finn.
"Ben?" Han Solo's gruff voice was muffled behind the breathing mask he was wearing. A small oxygen tank was slung over one shoulder. Chewie and Finn were wearing similar masks. As soon as he caught sight of his son staggering in the distance Han increased his pace until he reached him.
"Dad, you came back for me?" Kylo questioned hoarsely.
"Of course, I did." Han answered roughly as he yanked the oxygen mask off his face, holding his breath as he offered it to his son.
Kylo took it gratefully and greedily breathed in the pure air before hastily passing it back to his father. Chewie and Finn had joined them now. Kylo cast them an anguished glance as he plunged back into the black smoke as he renewed his desperate search for Rey. Han and the others followed close behind him, with the former continuing to share the oxygen with his son. With the four of them on the hunt, it didn't take them long to find Rey lying unconscious on the floor next to Rose.
With his mind a vortex of emotions, Kylo hunkered down, his gentle fingers grazing Rey's cheek in a tender caress before they drifted to the pulse point at the base of her neck. His eyes squeezed shut in relief when he felt her pulse beating strongly underneath his fingers. Tears pooled under his lids and he was forced to blink them away. When he opened them again, he found Finn beside him, checking Rose over for signs of life. Their eyes met briefly and a silent understanding passed between them. Finn was the first to break away as he gave a slight nod of his head, indicating that Rose was alive. With Chewie and Han helping, they lifted the fallen girls between them and made their way quickly out of the base, while the Resistance fighters continued to bombard it from above.
They emerged into a world of bluster and ice. In the distance snow covered the rich, deep wood in perfect white. Kylo breathed in the frigid air, filling his lungs with it until they physically couldn't hold in anymore. He cradled Rey bridal style in his arms as he followed behind Han, Finn and Chewie. The tall Wookie cuddled Rose against his furry body to keep her warm; her head lolling on his furry shoulder as he moved. As he walked, Kylo checked on Rey often, his anxious gaze roaming her face for any signs of discomfort. She was wrapped in Han's thick coat to ward off the chill on the short journey back to the Falcon. The wind picked up, howling around them, piling up snow in drifts, blinding the air with ice-white dust. Kylo walked bent over as he shielded Rey with his body, protectively.
Soon the ships came into view. They were strung out in a line as they pushed their way through the building snow toward them. As they drew closer, a series of agitated beeps and whistles greeted them as BB-8 rolled anxiously toward them. The little droid became even more jittery when he saw Rey unconsciousness in Kylo's arms. He began to babble at Kylo in his binary language. Kylo looked down at the little astromech wearily. He didn't have the energy to speak. Instead he raised his thumb, hoping that would suffice. The little lighter in BB-8's base shot out in response, showing he understood.
The Millennium Falcon and the X-wing had only just cleared the planet's surface when-unbeknownst to them-Poe Dameron fired on the conduit leading to the thermal oscillator, starting a chain reaction of explosions across the planet's surface. The planet imploded and then exploded, the stored material from the drained sun expanding to create a new micro-star in the planet's place, turning the star system into a binary.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.