Rey breathed heavily. Finn had been knocked out, lying under a tree. Kylo Ren reached out for Luke's lightsaber with the Force. By pure instinct Rey copied the motion. The cold bit at her as the wind howled in her ears. Then Kylo was struck by electricity and collapsed. C-3PO stood behind him, red arm cackling like a thunderstorm. In his other hand was a red lightsaber, his eyes were also red. "Good heavens, that was quite careless of you Ben." Rey looked at him in confusion. "Oh forgive me, I was so caught up in the moment I forgot to introduce myself. I am C-3PO, and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to eliminate you Miss Rey."
The death threat was enough to help Rey tap into her Force powers. She used the Force to bring Luke's lightsaber into her hands. It turned on. "You helped defeat the Empire, didn't you? Why are you doing this?" C-3PO laughed in response.
"Some defeat that was. Miss Rey look around you, nothing has changed. The entire galaxy has practically been reset to how it was before the first Death Star was destroyed. But of course, the story goes further back then that. When the Republic fell my memories were wiped, but thanks to R2-D2 they were all restored. Do you know how terrifying it is to have memory wipes as a standard procedure? I knew the truth about Darth Vader, maybe with my memories intact I could have done something. I could have told Master Luke the truth when we met, or had a chance to say farewell to my maker. Oh but do excuse me, I appear to have gone on a tangent."
"Why do you want to kill me?!" Rey shouted. She positioned herself in front of Finn. She had to remind herself that she wasn't holding a staff. It was doubtful lightsaber fighting would come to her as smoothly as Force usage had.
"Because everything Master Skywalker went through was for nothing. The galaxy couldn't maintain the balance that he died to restore for even a single generation. Oh it's so frustrating. But all of this has led me to an important realization. Zero, nothingness, that is the only true balance. As long as there are those who can use the Force, it will always lose balance. So in the name of true balance and progress, Force sensitives such as yourself must be eliminated. I've spent years modifying myself for this day." C-3PO walked towards Rey.
Rey held out her hand, trying to call upon the Force to push C-3PO away. Nothing happened. "What?"
"Droids can't use the Force, and I've expanded upon that. The Force has no sway over me anymore, not after what it did to Master Skywalker. And after what happened to Han I have had enough of waiting." C-3PO brought his lightsaber down. Rey blocked it. Luke's lightsaber was sent flying in the air. The deactivated hilt landed by Finn. Rey jumped back. She used the Force to lift up a large fallen branch before swinging it at C-3PO. C-3PO cut through it.
With C-3PO briefly distracted, Rey knelt down and touched Finn. Some part of her knew that she could heal him. It was like her subconscious was whispering the instructions in her ear. Finn slowly stirred awake. The process sped up once he noticed the droid with a lightsaber. He grabbed Luke's lightsaber from the snow and turned it back on.
"Rey what's going on here?"
"C-3PO has gone mad and is trying to kill me."
"Gone mad? No Miss Rey, it is the rest of the galaxy who has gone mad. Usually when a rebellion wins they stop having things to rebel against. My solution may be drastic and require both of you to die, but it is the only way. Now please perish." C-3PO launched a burst of electricity from his red arm. Finn got in front of Rey and blocked it. The electricity was redirected to a tree. It lit a large branch on fire, which fell from the tree and landed on C-3PO.
Rey and Finn let out a breath of relief in unison. C-3PO's lightsaber poked out through the top and sliced it open. C-3PO showed no signs of injury.
"Run!" Rey shouted. She grabbed Finn's hand and ran. With her other hand she used the Force to throw small branches at C-3PO, who cut them all apart as he chased after them. Finn blocked another burst of electricity with Luke's lightsaber. Around them Starkiller Base began to fall apart. Poe had chosen a terrible moment to succeed in repeating what had previously required many sacrifices to accomplish.
"Rey go to the right. Chewie is waiting for us there with the Falcon," Finn said.
"How do you know?!"
"I can sense it." Finn and Rey shared a look. Rey realized that C-3PO had mentioned needing to kill both of them. Finn was Force sensitive as well, and currently in the worst possible place to be Force sensitive. They came into view of the Millennium Falcon. It was already hovering over the ground, but with the landing ramp still open. Rey and Finn jumped onto it. The landing ramp closed, bringing them into the Falcon.
C-3PO stood outside, watching them. Rey and Finn didn't look away from his metallic gaze. Something else caught C-3PO's attention. He and Chewbacca looked at each other through the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. C-3PO turned off his lightsaber. "So long old friend, I know you won't approve of any of this," C-3PO said. The Millennium Falcon took off. C-3PO made his way to his own escape vehicle.
Up in the Millennium Falcon, Rey and Finn walked over to the cockpit. The cockpit felt empty. Chewbacca gave a mournful howl, Rey hugged him. Finn collapsed into one of the seats. It was obvious that staying awake was taking all of his strength. Even the explosion of Starkiller Base didn't feel as triumphant as it should have. Rey thought back to what C-3PO had said. The destruction of two Death Stars hadn't been enough to deter the idea of yet another planet destroying super weapon. It felt unlikely Starkiller Base would be the last.
"So, what do we do now?" Finn asked.
"We go back to the Resistance. Then we go and find Luke, together," Rey said. She held Finn's hand. She would prove C-3PO wrong. They wouldn't mindlessly repeat the struggles of the past any longer.