Chapter 25

Chewie landed the Falcon as close as he could to the last location transmitted from Rey's tracking beacon. A preliminary sweep showed them that the area had recently flooded and that there were no life signs in the immediate vicinity. Finn didn't know if that was a positive sign or not.

Stepping off the ramp, Finn was unprepared to have his foot sink into about six inches of mud.

"Agh," he complained. "Chewie, you couldn't have landed us any closer?"

The Wookie replied in his typical aggravated tone. Finn didn't think the two of them would ever get along, but he was fairly confident that Chewie didn't mean it when he said that he would pull Finn's arms out.

"Here Rose, give me your hand. The footing is treacherous."

Rose scoffed and marched right past him. Finn still didn't know what he had done to set her off or how to make it better. Finn could care less if Chewie hated him, but Rose's attitude stung. Finn attempted to broach the topic several times but every time he did, Rose turned away from him and found something on the Falcon that needed fixing. The ship was old, but Finn was fairly confident that it didn't need that much work.

Pulling his foot out of the mud, Finn watched Rose for a minute before heading out after her. Now was not the time to worry about what was going on between them. Rey was missing. If they were lucky, they would find a clue somewhere that would lead them to her. Although, looking at the muddy terrain, Finn was not sure that they would find anything in this muck. This planet was a hellhole and he couldn't wait to leave and never come back.

Finn marched as quickly as he could to catch up to Rose. Life signs or not, this area was clearly treacherous, and he didn't want Rose walking into anything alone. It didn't matter if she hated his guts right now. He wasn't about to leave her unprotected.

Finn gave a short bark of laughter as he imagined telling Rose that she needed his protection. She would probably knock him out with that stunner she kept on her hip. For such a little thing, that weapon packed a punch. Just like Rose.

The path narrowed the closer they got to the ravine. The mud also got deeper. It was so deep it sucked Finn's boot right off his foot.

"Hey Rose, hold up a second. I lost my boot."

Rose turned to look back at him. Her annoyed expression transformed to one of mirth as she took in the sight of him. She was able to hold back her laugh for about a second before it burst out of her. She laughed so hard that she bowed at the waist.

"It isn't that funny."

Still, Finn had to concede that he probably looked pretty comical right now. He was perched on one foot with his arms extended to keep his balance while he tried to keep his other foot out of the mud. Sadly, his wardrobe had seen better days and the sock that was exposed had a huge hole in it. His big toe was clearly visible.

"Whatever you say twinkle toes."

"Hey, how about a little help here."

The missing shoe was about a foot behind him and Finn struggled to get his foot back in the tall boot without falling over. The last thing he needed was to fall into the mud.

Still laughing, Rose made her way back to him. She tried pulling the boot out of the mud, but it was well and truly stuck.

"Okay twinkle toes just hold onto me and guide your foot back."

Finn rested his hand on Rose's shoulder and held tight to keep his balance.

"I am not twinkle toes," he growled out.

"Are you sure about that?"

Finn couldn't help but smile. He was so glad that Rose was speaking to him again. If she kept smiling at him, he didn't think he cared if she called him a thousand different names.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Finn managed to get the boot back onto his foot, but he still needed Rose's help to get out of the mud. It held tight and when it finally released, it did so with a wet sucking sound.

They laughed together, and Finn was relieved to see that when the laughing died down, Rose still smiled at him. It made his stomach flip whenever her smile was directed at him. The pair walked the rest of the way to the mouth of the ravine side by side.

Their mirth died once they saw the first downed man. He lay a few feet from the mouth of the ravine. He was clearly dead, and the manner of his death sent a cold chill down Finn's spine. He knew that wound. He had suffered it firsthand. A lightsaber killed this man.

Moving as quickly as possible, Finn and Rose made their way through the ravine. Blaster fire was evident in the rockface and more men lay scattered on the ground. None had survived.

"Maybe Rey got her saber working again," Rose said. From her tone it was clear that she didn't believe that was what happened. She was trying to keep Finn's hopes alive.

Finn couldn't speak. He went from body to body checking to see if any of them were Rey or if any of them were still alive. Finn's terror for his friend grew with each body he saw mangled by lightsaber. He knew of only one group besides the Jedi that used sabers, the Knights of Ren.

The Knights of Ren were spoken of in hushed whispers throughout the First Order. They were like the boogeymen of a child's nightmare. They operated completely independent of any chain of command. They were also able to assume command of any mission or commandeer any ship or equipment that they wanted at a moment's notice. It drove Hux insane. On top of all that, their identities were completely unknown. The only exception was Kylo Ren. While their identities were shrouded in mystery their handiwork was not. The savagery of their attacks had caused more than one officer to lose their lunch. As much as Finn's mind fought against it, there was no mistaking who murdered these men.

Finn dropped into the mud and began digging at the spot that Rey's beacon had last transmitted. He was frantic. Heedless of the muck, he used his bare hands like a shovel. His hands stilled when they came upon the beacon. The strap had been torn. There was no way that it had just slipped from Rey's wrist. No, this had been wrenched from her before being crushed.

Finn felt sick. He knew who had Rey. His friend was in the hands of a monster. The same monster who had maimed him. The same monster responsible for the slaughter of innocent villagers on Jakku. Kylo Ren.