Rey and crew exited the elevator with guns ready. To their surprise, only Gabba was in the room. All of his guards and attendants were gone. The group cautiously approached the Hutt. Rey had never seen such a disgusting creature before. Gabba casually smoked his pipe in front of her.
"Your reign on Nar Shaddaa is over, Hutt," she said to him.
"I have seen empires and republics come and go, but we Hutts shall always remain," Gabba said to her.
"No, there's a new order now. I am taking everything from you," Rey declared.
"And giving it to who?" the Hutt asked skeptically.
"The people of Nar Shaddaa," Rey replied.
Gabba chuckled. "A Jedi working for the First Order? I have seen it all. The people will always come back to us."
"Why is that?" Rey demanded.
"We have the intellect and the connections. Inequality will always exist in a free society. We are the same, you and I, Jedi," Gabba said.
"How's that?" Rey asked skeptically.
"You've inherited your gifts and the entire First Order from your family. A Hutt passes along wealth and knowledge to the next generation in an endless cycle. You were nothing but a scavenger before you discovered your parentage," Gabba pointed out.
"He's just trying to distract you, Rey," Finn told her.
"Ah, the ex-storm trooper who became a prince of thieves," Gabba mocked Finn.
"I'll cut you a deal. You'll leave here a free Hutt if you give me all of your contacts," Rey said using a mind trick on him.
The Hutt laughed at her. "You don't need to use a mind trick on me, girl," the Hutt conceded.
Rey smiled victoriously.
Kylo Ren barged onto the bridge of Rey's Star Destroyer. "Supreme Leader, what an unexpected pleasure," the captain stammered.
The captain suddenly hit the floor face first and was forced to look up at him. Kylo took a squat near the captain. "Your job was to keep her safe and keep her out of trouble, not to start a galactic revolution," Kylo said angrily.
"I merely did as the Empress commanded," he excused himself.
"The Empress is a figurehead. I am the Supreme Leader. You take orders from me, and you will check with me before doing anything like this again. Do I make myself clear, captain?" Kylo lectured.
"Perfectly," the captain gasped.
Kylo then stood up and looked over the staring bridge crew. "Carry on," he said and then left the bridge.
Rey and what was left of her forces arrived in the docking bay of her Star Destroyer. Kylo was there waiting for her with rows of Storm troopers on either side of him. Rey exited the shuttle alone and saw Kylo staring intently at her. "I have the contacts to every bounty hunter, smuggler, and criminal war lord in the galaxy," she said proudly.
"You mean this," Kylo said holding a memory stick.
Rey gave him a confused look. "Didn't you think it was too easy gaining the Hutt's cooperation?" Kylo asked condescendingly.
"How?" Rey asked.
"I threatened to destroy everything he had. To keep you safe, I would have turned the entire planet to ash," Kylo said seriously.
"That isn't justice. You killed innocent people," Rey argued.
"And I would do it again without hesitation," Kylo replied. "The Hutts, the crime lords, and the syndicates are all pawns to me. The First Order can't be everywhere at once. In the past, the Empire relied on the Hutts to keep order in the Outer Rim. Now, you have made them all enemies of the First Order."
"Then together we will fight them. They're selling drugs, trafficking children, and ordering assassinations. I won't stand for it," Rey said forcefully.
"You won't stand for it? Who do you think you are?" Kylo asked annoyed. "Know your place."
"I'm not some scavenger anymore. I'm the Emperor's grand daughter," Rey pointed out.
"You use your family connections when it suits you. I have abandoned the Skywalker legacy," Kylo said seething with anger.
"When I joined you, we were to be partners. I am not your subordinate!" Rey shouted at him.
Kylo waved his hand near her face and she fell to the floor asleep. "The Empress is not well. Take her to my throne room," Kylo ordered his men.
Rey woke up in the throne room on-board the Supremacy with Kylo Ren sitting on Snoke's throne. The room had been cleaned up from their previous battle. Instead of the red curtain, there was a large video screen showing Nar Shaddaa and the blockading Star Destroyer fleet to simulate it being an observatory tower. Unlike before, there were no guards. The two of them were alone.
Rey got to her feet and glared angrily at Kylo. "That's the last time you do that to me!"
"I doubt that," Kylo said calmly and walked towards her.
Rey ignited her blue light saber to keep Kylo at bay. He, in turn, ignited his own red blade and kept coming. Rey clashed with him to keep him from coming any closer. The two didn't strike at each other but just kept their blades crackling as they pushed on one another.
Kylo eyed Rey's fierce gaze and then sensed something. He immediately withdrew causing Rey to nearly trip on herself. "You should have told me. I would never have done those things to you if I had known," he said upset.
"I didn't know," Rey said honestly.
"Now you do and yet you still put your life at risk," Kylo said displeased.
"You want me to lock myself away?" Rey asked incredulous.
"Yes! I want to send you away where nothing could happen to you," Kylo agreed.
"Every moment we delay is a wasted opportunity. I have wasted away my life waiting for my parents to find me again," she said sadly.
"Your parents are dead, aren't they?" Kylo asked.
Rey nodded. "Your parents killed them. Your mother gave the order and your father kill them," Rey said as tears flowed.
Kylo gave her a sympathetic look. He activated a hologram showing Rey her parents. Rey looked at the image in wonder. She had no memory of them but yet they looked so familiar. "I found this in the Jedi archive at the Lost City. I destroyed the rest, but I kept this for you."
"Thank you," Rey said embracing a very stiff and uncomfortable Kylo.
Kylo sighed not certain how to console her. "I will rid Nar Shaddaa of crime and violence. I will make it just," Kylo promised her. "Go on and do what you think is right. Just be careful," he said to her.
From the Supremacy bridge, Kylo saw Rey's shuttle leave to rejoin her Star Destroyer. As soon as the Star Destroyer was gone, Kylo turned to his admiral. "End the blockade and pull out the division," he ordered.
"As you wish, Supreme Leader," the admiral replied.
The First Order fleet withdrew from Nar Shaddaa and regrouped under the Supremacy. "Give the Hutts my apologies," Kylo ordered and then left the bridge.
Rey's Star Destroyer exited hyperspace over Mon Calmari, a nearly ocean planet with scattered islands. Immediately, the planetary defenses were alerted. Mon Calmari cruisers and Republic fighters approached the lone Star Destroyer. A hologram of a Mon Calmari admiral appeared before her.
"First Order Star Destroyer, you are not welcome here," he said gruffly.
"I am here to investigate the spice trade at Crystal Reef," Rey said authoritatively.
"Why should you care?" the admiral asked skeptically.
"I am the Empress of the First Order. I'm making it my business," Rey said confidently.
"We will not allow your Storm troopers to land," the admiral refused.
"Then I will go myself," Rey replied.
"There is a danger, my Empress," her captain warned.
"Very well," the admiral allowed.
As the hologram turned off, she turned to the captain. "You will behave while I am gone," she ordered.
"As you wish, my empress," he replied. As soon as she was off the bridge, he turned to his XO. "Contact the Supreme Leader."
Rey took a shuttle down to the planet and landed on Crystal Reef near the north pole of the planet. She came with only K-2 with her. The black First Order droid looked out of place on the peaceful planet. She wore a thick black coat as she looked around at the ocean water and icebergs. "I have never seen so much ice," she said amazed.
The Mon Calmari delegation came to her. "Empress of the First Order, I am Ambassador Mhe Rou," a female diplomat said to her.
"Nice to meet you. Can I look around?" she asked pleasantly.
"Of course," the ambassador said not sure what to make of her.
Rey toured around the facility seeing all the exotic shops and food places. She felt perfectly safe as she read the minds of her escort. "She looks like a Jedi," one of the diplomats whispered.
She then sensed something off about a tan-skinned woman named Anja. "What do you want?" the woman asked Rey.
"She's on the contact list," K-2 said helpfully.
"Your hiding spice here," Rey accused.
Anja gave Rey an alarmed look and took out a pistol. Rey quickly ignited her light saber and deflected the bolt into the bar. She then used the Force to take the pistol away from her. The woman then fled to her ship.
Rey followed her to a landing pad where she took off in an old freighter. Rey could see the woman leaving towards the polar ice cap and then diving down into the water. "I require a ship," she said to the ambassador.
The ambassador gave her a confused look but nodded to her.
Rey exited a large submarine and found a city inside the ice structure. She looked around in wonder and then sensed the woman nearby. Rushing off, she used the Force to knock people out of the way as she reached her. Anja turned back and fired a rope that pinned Rey's limbs together. She then activated her cloaking device to get away. K-2 saw through the disguise and fired on her disabling the cloak.
"Do you need assistance?" K-2 asked a struggling Rey. She merely glared at the sarcastic droid. K-2 used his hand to slice the rope off and the two continued their pursuit.
Anja then threw a device on K-2 deactivating him. It fell to the floor with a thud. Rey ignited her light saber as Anja fired on her with a new pistol. Rey dashed towards Anja and sliced off the barrel to her pistol. Anja then reached behind her back for a vibroblade. The two clashed with blades. At first, Anja attacked Rey furiously with super-human reflexes but quickly fatigued. Rey twirled the blade out of Anja's hands. Weakened by spice withdrawals, Anja fell to her knees.
"Kill me. It's better than this pain," Anja said to her.
"What's wrong with you?" Rey asked her.
"I need…the spice," she gasped.
Rey noticed her withdrawal symptoms. "I'll try to help you," Rey promised and then used the Force to heal her.
The woman got better and gave her a grateful look. "If I tell you where it is, he will kill me," she said fearfully.
"Who?" Rey questioned.
"Czethros," she replied.
Rey scanned her mind and saw what he looked like. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
"Alright, my name is Anja. I'll lead you to it," she said.
Anja, Rey, and Mon Calmari security found the large stash of spice. "This is enough for a whole planet," the ambassador said amazed.
"Let her go," Rey ordered the ambassador.
"As you say," the ambassador allowed.
On the gas giant planet Byss, a citadel floated in the clouds. The city-size structure was dwarfed by a large structure that emerged from the clouds. The tube-shaped structure was an enormous projectile cannon at over seven thousand kilometers in length. First Order Star Destroyers looked small in comparison as they patrolled around the Galaxy Gun. Hovering above the citadel was the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer. The Eclipse was beyond the Galaxy Gun in length at over seventeen kilometers. At the end of the Eclipse bow was a large hole that led to a super-laser system that went back towards the massive engines. The Super Star Destroyer was black with a heavily armored hull, a relatively flat deck for half the length of the ship, and then started to rise progressively until it reached a traditional Star Destroyer bridge.
A young bald man looked over both of his super weapons he had built prior to discovering Starkiller base in the Unknown regions. Behind her were several black robed figures with light sabers at their belts. Snoke turned to the Knights of Ren he had enslaved.
"Keep guard while I am away," he ordered them and then departed towards his shuttle.
Author's Notes: So, I am working in the Reborn Palpatine storyline a great deal while giving Rey more adventures. If there had been a team up in Last Jedi, I have no doubt it would have been an uneasy one with the two constantly bickering over how to manage the galaxy similar to Anakin and Padme's different philosophical approaches to the Clone Wars. Another significant issue to any team up would be Rey in the chain of command of the First Order. The two competing visions make it difficult for any First Order officer to know what to do. Finally, I'm making good use of Kylo's power to send someone into sleep mode, a power he inexplicably decided not to use later.