This Awful Energy
Summary: It was simple: he was shrouded in darkness, and she in light. But when she discovers who she truly is, a new legacy is thrust upon her. Can Rey cope with the truth of her own past?
Author's Note: I get a snow day, you get an update.
Chapter Five: An Escape Plan
For Rey, finding sleep that night felt like fighting with one of the Unkar Plutt's thugs for the last piece of scavenged metal before the trading post was closed for the night – difficult and immensely useless. Hours later, her mind was still reeling from all of the revelations that her vision had brought her. What if she was never supposed to come to Ahch-To in the first place? What if she were never meant to be a Jedi?Where was she supposed to go from here? Could she even trust the Resistance anymore? When they were able to slaughter her family – to consider killing a child – without any consideration for the destruction that was left behind? Rey was consumed with all of the possibilities – all of the questions that had taken up residence in her head now. All of the what ifs.
The thoughts left Rey's stomach in knots. She truly did not know what to think about her most recent discoveries. Luke seemed to notice this as well, as there had been a significant change in his demeanor towards her.
"I understand that you are upset at the moment, and that I am one of the last people you want to talk to," Her master had said to her, his eyes casting the pitying look that he had been giving her all night. He had been much kinder to her, much gentler in consideration of her most recent emotional state, "Trust your instincts, Rey. And when you are ready to talk to me about this, I will be ready."
Trust your instincts, Rey.
Rey chewed her lips as she thought about Luke and his kindness towards her. What were her instincts telling her about that? It was obvious that, despite his involvement with the Resistance, Luke did not know much about his sister's connection with the murder of Rey's mother.
But could Rey even bring herself to fight for the cause that could do such a thing?
A mixture of both sadness and rage welled up inside of her, threatening to boil over at any moment. The amount of anger that she felt frightened her, but wasn't it justified? General Organa has welcomed her into the Resistance. Han Solo had taken her under his wing; he had been the closest thing that Rey had ever had to a father. How could he have done that to her? How could he have acted as if nothing was wrong? Had either of them even remembered such a completely life alerting event?
Perhaps this was why Han Solo had offered her that job all of those months ago – to alleviate some of the guilt, if he even had any. Rey sat up in the makeshift bed, a frustrated sigh escaping from the back of her throat. Her resentment at her situation made it impossible for her to lay still and find rest. Rey threw the small blanket away from her body and let her feet touch the cold floor. Before she knew it, she found herself ducking out past Luke Skywalker's sleeping form and out of the small home.
Rey wondered if Luke had heard her sneaking out, what he would have thought about it all. He wanted her to open up to him, no doubt so that he could tell her that everything she was feeling was against the Jedi Code. Rey ran her fingers through her undone hair; there was a small part of her that needed to tell someone everything that she felt. But she did not know if she could fully trust everything that Luke stood for. Would he help her to find the answers that she was looking for so desperately? Rey looked up at the night sky as she contemplated the answer to the question. Could she really ask Luke to confront the possibility that his family did something horrible to hers?
Rey did not think that she could. And so she was left to deal with her anger herself.
She looked up at the stars, thinking about all of the far off and removed from the crushing weight of her problems. Rey thought of the cause she was fighting for. The cause spearheaded by General Organa – the woman who killed her mother. Could she even stand to fight for the cause? To stand behind her mother's murderers?
Rey did not think that she could.
She was no longer fighting for the right cause anymore.
At least the First Order was open about the horrific methods that the used. They shamelessly ripped children from their families to raise them as brutal soldiers. They proudly built weapons that could destroy entire solar systems. The Resistance only hid their atrocities and claimed their moral high ground.
"What a load of kriff," Rey mumbled to herself as she ran her hands through her hair, "I've got to get away from this place."
Already, the plan was forming in her head.
Quickly, Rey charged back into her room. As quietly as she possibly could, Rey fumbled around in the dark for her meager belongings. She did not have much to pack away. But then again, Rey had never had much to her name to begin with. Resentment flowed through her at the thought, causing her blood to boil once again. Who knows what her life could have been like if her family had not been murdered? With unnecessary force, Rey shoved the remainders of her measly possessions into the small bag.
Rey shook her head, pushing all of the vile and unnecessary thoughts from her mind. She had a plan that needed to put in to place.
Rey looked down at the belongings in front of her: the satchel and the lightsaber that had been gifted to her by Luke Skywalker. The tool that she had used to complete her training had once been a huge part of her. It called to her on Takodana, bringing her down a path she never would have chosen for herself. It helped her to defeat Kylo Ren on Starkiller Base, helping her to see her own power in the Force. It has been her constant companion these past few months. But as she gazed at the elegant tool now, it felt foreign to her. Luke's saber carried with it the legacy of rebellion and resistance – something that Rey did not think that she could continue. The lightsaber, although it had never left her side, was not really hers. It had never truly belonged to her in the first place; it was never meant to.
Rey grabbed her bag and turned on her heel, leaving Luke Skywalker's lightsaber behind.
Silently, Rey slipped out of the homestead on the top of the tallest peak on Ahch-To. The moon was still high in the sky; she had plenty of time left. She made her way down the mountain, her feet stumbling over the jagged rocks in the dark. Momentum was pulling her forward and she found herself almost running down the mountain, desperate to be away from the sacred planet before Luke woke up at daybreak.
It was not long before Rey was at the pebbled beach that lined the mountainous island, the same spot where the Millennium Falcon had carried her to months ago. Even now, Rey could remember the butterflies and apprehension that she felt as she began her quest to find the last Jedi. It was as if those same butterflies were taking up residence in her stomach once again.
"I cannot believe I am doing this," Rey muttered to herself, breathlessly.
Rey looked out at the beach, where an unmanned escape shuttle was standing guard. Rey smiled, giving a brief and undeserved thanks to the Resistance for having the foresight to provide means of transport. The Rebellion Era spacecraft was left along with two holo-pad communicators after the final supply run to Ahch-To months ago, originally intended for when Rey and Luke were ready to once again join the Resistance.
But Rey did not think she would ever be ready to return to them. Not until she had her answers.
And so, without any hesitation, Rey climbed in to the pilot's chair of escape shuttle. She gripped the controls and thrusters, trying to get a feel for the outdated spacecraft. It was an older model, with parts that she would have scavenged and only received a quarter portion for back on Jakku.
Using the outdated controls, Rey accessed the tiny spacecraft's navigation system. The maps themselves were old, but Rey had to hope that none of the planets or systems had changed much in the years since the Rebellion. She imputed Moraband into the system as the ship began searching through the database for the location of the planet.
The engine whirred as the machines in the old fighter combed the database for the planet. The coordinates had to be buried deep within the system, as the sun was beginning to rise on the island when Moraband was finally located. Rey's heartbeat accelerated as she set her course – she was really doing this.
As the sun rose on Ahch-To, so did the old shuttle. Rey watched as a sea of green and blue passed underneath her as she left the sacred planet's atmosphere. As she was leaving, she turned back to look at the planet that had been her home for months now. She thought of her master, and had to wonder if he had already awakened to find her missing.
Perhaps he expected that she would leave all along.
Rey looked out of the small window of the cockpit, the stars moving at what felt to her like a glacial pace. Debris from space were hurling past her tiny escape shuttle, forcing her to expertly maneuver around the abundance of rocks and junk that were headed her way. She was lucky that the debris was few and far between, allowing her plenty of time to anticipate any modifications she had to make. One she was confident that she was finally clear of the debris field, she sighed heavily, looking at the empty shuttle cabin. The unmanned seat next to her felt even more lonely as she thought of who was supposed to be there. Rey and Luke were supposed to travel back to the Resistance together on the spacecraft. But circumstances had changed, and Rey left her master behind.
She looked despondently at the empty shuttle, wondering what exactly she was supposed to do now.
According to the navigation system on the outdated shuttle, Moraband was on the far side of the Outer Rim territories. It would take her ages to travel from one place to another at the speed she was going. Idly, she wondered if the ancient shuttle had a hyper drive core that could maintain any significant time at light speed.
Rey sincerely doubted it. But she could not help but begin to fiddle with the ship's navigation system with the small hope that something would happen. After a few moments of pressing buttons she did not recognize, Rey finally found what she believed to be the shuttle's hyper drive generator. Eagerly, Rey attempted to jump start the ship's ancient generator with a few routine tricks. She was ready to be out of the small cramped shuttle.
The whirring sound of the hyper drive generator surrounded the shuttle, leaving Rey with the hope that hyper space was soon within reach.
The whirring sound of the old engine, however, morphed into a pathetic sputtering. The shuttle lurched forward slightly causing Rey to slide forward in her seat. Almost as quickly, the outdated shuttle sputtered once more before continuing to chug along at its leisurely pace.
"Of course," Rey mumbled to no one in particular as she sat back in her seat, resigned to the fact that her great escape was now marred by the ancient contraption that simply could not move fast enough. Rey sighed as she leaned back, bringing the palm of her hands to her temples. She rubbed the side of her head, "At least I have time to come up with a really good plan."
Minutes seemed to pass like hours as the small escape craft carried Rey through the depths of space. She easily grew sick of counting the different systems as she passed by them, and found her eyes begin to grow heavy as the time passed. She did not know how much more of this idle waiting she could possibly take.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The alarm immediately brought Rey out of her pre-slumber state. Her eyes locked on the ship's radar detection system, hoping that she was only hearing an indicator of some radar malfunction. But Rey had no such luck.
"Kriff," Rey let out a small curse under her breath as she analyzed the data before her: there were multiple spacecraft within range from here. From the look of it, at least one of them was rather large command ship that loomed over all of the rest. Rey gulped as calculated her odds. There was no way that she had not already been spotted by whoever was out there. Rey took a look out of the solar shield on the escape pod, hoping to get a better view of the ships that were in her vicinity.
"Kriff, kriff, kriff!" Rey exclaimed again as she saw that multiple First Order TIE fighters were gliding through space rather quickly in her direction. No other ships were out there besides hers and those belonging to the First Order, and they would no doubt be curious about the old Rebellion era escape pod chugging along the Outer Rim all alone.
Rey continued accelerating her speed as she tried to maneuver away from the enemy vessels. She silently prayed that they would just let her continue along her way. But the First Order fighters were already on her tail, and gaining on her quickly.
It was then that she heard the distinct chirping that signaled another ship was hailing her. It was coming from the command ship nearby. Without slowing down, Rey turned on the communication system and let the hail's audio play throughout the empty shuttle.
"Unidentified ship, state your call sign and prepare to be boarded." The disembodied voice was calm and collected. After all, Rey's ship was an easy target, and they had her all but surrounded. Rey looked at the controls around her, wondering what she could possibly do to get out of this situation. There was no way that she was going to let herself get caught by the First Order again without a fight.
"Sorry," Rey said to no one in particular, "But I haven't got time to stop today."
Instead of responding to the hail, Rey maximized her acceleration. The old ship lurched forward, jolting Rey from her seat. Her body hit the control panel of the cockpit hard, and her senses seemed to dull. But she did not have time to wait around; she was being pursued. Rey slumped over the control panel, reaching for the ship's throttle. Within seconds, the throttle was ignited and the ship's speed leaped.
But she was not moving fast enough. The agile TIE fighters were advancing steadily, gaining on her with each passing second.
Rey had to do something, anything, to get the First Order off of her tail.
Without a thought, Rey changed her direction. But the TIE pilots were quick enough to react to the sudden change. They were still following closely behind Rey. Muttering a curse under her breath, Rey looked to the expanse of space in front of her. What had seemed like little flecks in the distance were getting larger and larger by the second as she realized she had turned straight into an asteroid field.
"Damnit!" Rey cursed, swinging herself so that she could reach for the ship's equilibrium controls. She would have to manually navigate the field.
Rey risked a look at her radar system; the First Order was still gaining on her.
Rey turned her attention back to the danger in front of her, instead of the threat behind her. Perhaps, if she could move quickly enough, the asteroids would take care of the TIE fighters and their pilots for her. Instinctively, Rey reached for the controls and send her ship skyrocketing in altitude to avoid an oncoming rock that was hurdling towards her.
Before she even cleared the first asteroid, Rey had to evade yet another space rock that was barreling in her direction. She veered right, causing the slip to fly on an angle to avoid any impact. In the distance, Rey could see the distinct outline of a planet at the end of the dangerous asteroid field. Her face lit up, the danger was soon over. Rey let out a giggle, and accelerated her speed slightly.
Rey too another risk, looking down at the radar to see where her enemies were. Fewer TIE fightrs were within range of the radar system, and it appeared her plan had worked. The asteroid field had taken care of some of the pilots. Only three were still left following her, and they appeared to be moving as much slower pace than she. She let out a victorious cheer as she looked up once again to the space in front of her.
An asteroid was coming hurling towards her, faster than any that she had seen one move before. Rey veered left, hoping that she would be able to clear the giant boulder in time before it hit her. The asteroid shot past her, but not before grazing the wing of the old shuttle pod. She felt her stomach drop as the wing of her shuttle detached entirely after the impact.
Before Rey could even react, her ship began to spin uncontrollably through the remains of the asteroid field. She was flung across the ship, her right shoulder hitting the steel reinforced ceiling of the shuttle pod. Rey cried out in agony, but there was no one there to hear her. All she could do was let the shuttle tumble through the rest of the asteroid field, and tumble along with it.
Although it seemed like forever, her ship cleared the rest of the asteroid field within minutes. But the ship's spinning did not stop, and she was still barreling towards the unidentified planet below. The spiraling downward continued, and she could feel herself falling and she closed her eyes as she was pulling into the planet's gravitational system. No doubt that the First Order fighters would strike their fatal blows and end her there.
If the impact of her landing did not kill her first.
Her craft was accelerating now, moving faster than ever before now that she was being pulled into the gravitational field of the planet before her.
The impact came before Rey could even prepare for it.
Without so much as warning, Rey's torso hit the steel ceiling of the shuttle pod. Her body was being tossed around like a rag doll, her extremities flailing without any control on her part.
And just like that, it was over and everything went black.
Rey's eyes flickered open, a move that sent daggers shooting through her retina as the daylight pouring in to the discarded remnants of the shuttle pod blinded her. She groaned as she shut her eyes once more, trying to protect herself from the harsh intrusion of the light. She had no idea how long she had been lying unconscious for. Her mind immediately reeled back to the events that caused her crash landing. There was no doubt that the First Order could have tracked her crash to this vicinity; it was a marvel that they had not found her yet.
She was already operating on lost time; she would have to get moving before anyone else found her.
With a whelp of pain, Rey turned over on her side. Her arms shakily pushed her battered body up into a kneeling position. Rey looked at the remnants of the shuttle pod around her. The emergency lights cast a dim glow around the vessel, signaling that at least the generators were functioning. But a quick assessment of the rest of the ship told her that everything else was far beyond repair. Even with the skills she picked up as a scavenger, it would take a miracle for her to be able to fix this heap.
No, Rey was at the mercy of whoever inhabited the strange planet she was on.
It would do her well to know the planet, and its inhabitants, before she set out to find a new means of transport. Rey looked at the crumpled shuttle, silently praying that the ancient computer system survived the crash. With a few quick strokes, Rey tapped into the central computer's navigational system. She sighed in relief as her coordinates flickered on the cracked computer screen.
Region: Outer Rim
System: Opoku
Planet: Gamorr
Rey's brow furrowed as it dawned on her that she had never heard of the planet, or its people before. Her shoulders collapsed as she realized that she did not have fortune on her side. Rey transferred the coordinates and codex on the planet to her holopad, and strapped it securely onto her brown utility belt as she exited the shuttle. There was no telling when she would need it again.
Rey grabbed her travel sack, a smile etching itself on her face as she realized her meager belongings survived the crash. But she would need more than just her small possessions if she was going to survive her desertion on such a world. She began to tear the already destroyed ship to pieces, ripping out any scrap metal that she could use to trade for money to help buy her a ship, or passage to a more inhabited planet. She peeled the protective hull back to reveal the engine of the ship, and Rey grabbed what she could carry. Her hands worked quickly and carefully, eager to be engaging in a skill they mastered at such a young age. The ship's groaned as they shut off as Rey carefully ripped the system out. That part, in particular, would give her a nice bounty on any planet.
When Rey was satisfied that she had scavenged enough of her old ship, she turned back and set out. The fumbled for the codex in her now packed satchel, searching the database for the nearest town or trading outpost. She peered at the world around her; the area around her seemed to be a grassy plain. Her eyes narrowed in the distance, if her navigational system brought her that way, there was a tree line was waiting kilometers away to shield her from the hot sun.
Not long after her navigation system showed her the way, Rey began her half day's trek to Jugsmuk Station.
The sun was setting in the sky as she reached the dusty settlement. The Gamorreans seemed to keep their head down as they packed up their shops for the day. Rey scurried in to the settlement, desperate to find someone who could help her trade her parts for transport.
Rey hurried to the side of the first person she saw, standing outside of a post that looked eerily similar to the one belonging to Unkar Plutt back on Jakku. The Gamorrean standing guard at the post regarded Rey skeptically. But Rey raised her chin; she was the former padawan of Luke Skywalker, and had survived in the wasteland that was Niima Outpost for years. She would not be intimidated out of a trade.
Silently, Rey emptied the contents of her satchel, one by one. The Gamorrean trader eyed her carefully as she placed her bounty in front of him. When she was finished, he looked at the heaps of scrap parts placed in front of him, his bottom lip protruding with surprise at the bounty in front of him. The seconds dragged before he finally spoke, "I can give you seven thousand credits for these parts."
"Seven thousand?" Rey looked up at the trader before her, incredulous at the offer. "These parts together should be worth at least double that, if not more!"
But her protests were lost on the Gamorrean, he shrugged before turning back to his own work and leaving Rey with a decision to make. The former huffed, she needed the credits desperately if she was going to find a way off of the planet. Seven thousand was not enough for her to buy her own ship that could fly to Moraband. But perhaps she could hire someone to fly her to Moraband. It was not ideal, but it was infinitely better than being stranded on this strange planet for any longer than she needed to be.
"I'll take the seven thousand," Rey called out to the trader. He turned, offering her an expression that she supposed resembled a smile. Rey watched carefully as the man counted the credits he was to give her; she could not afford to be shortchanged by some swindler hoping to score a good deal. When both Rey and the trader were satisfied with their transaction, Rey turned in search of the station's nearest cantina. Surely there would be some seedy characters willing to take her to her destination.
Her eyes narrowed as scanned Jugsmuk Station, adjusting to the harsh light of the setting sun. But they widened as they fell upon the glistening white armor belonging to a pair of storm troopers.
"Kriff," Rey mumbled to herself. She tucked her chin, keeping her head both low and out of sight. Her eyes followed the twin troopers carefully. Her feet remained firmly in their place; she dared not draw attention to herself by making a run for it. She watched as the pair made their way from trading posts to shops, grabbing proprietors by their collars. Shop owners shook their heads fervently before being carelessly discarded when the troopers did not get what they wanted.
"Hey, you." The muffled voices of the troopers were eerily close to her now; she could hear them perfectly without straining herself. She watched as the troopers interrogated the Gamorrean trader she had just dealt with. "A shuttle crashed a few miles back. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?"
Without uttering so much as a word, the trader's eyes moved towards Rey's direction. The troopers followed the Gamorrean's gaze, which landed squarely on Rey. Without another word, the troopers began marching towards her, their blasters already drawn and ready to attack.
Rey turned, wishing she had the blue lightsaber attached to her utility belt. But, as she left the weapon on Ahch-To, Rey had no choice but to turn on her heels and run. She had no weapon to fight the troopers, and could only evade them. As she pushed past the few remaining stragglers in the open air market, she seized on the opportunity to put some distance between her and her pursuers. She leaped over a table displaying the local produce, and kicked it back after she cleared the obstacle. Fruits of all kinds rolled towards the storm troopers, and the pair fumbled over the new hurdle as they tried to keep pace with Rey.
They were quick for troopers, Rey thought as she looked over her shoulders and saw that they were gaining on her. She would not be able to outrun them, but she may be able to outsmart them. Instantly, Rey changed directions and turned into a secluded back alley. But she had not outwitted the First Order, as another white clad soldier stood waiting for her. Rey skidded to a stop, her heels digging into the dirt. The storm trooper raised his blaster to her, ready to fire at any given moment. The trooper's muffled voice commanded, "Put your hands up!"
Rey did as she was told, raising her hands into a non-threatening positions. What she would not give for a weapon, she thought as her chest heaved from the exertion. She would be able to end this now.
Rey looked at the blaster in her enemy's hand, willing herself to have it. She called for it through the Force. She could feel the air changing around her, the space between herself and her desired weapon closing in on itself. Soon enough, the blaster flew from the storm troopers hand and into hers. Rey immediately turned it on the trooper and fired a deadly blast straight at his chest.
The commotion was enough to signal to the other storm troopers Rey's location, and soon she found herself surrounded by the enemy. She had to act; without so much as a word, Rey sprang into action. She lunged forward at the first trooper, while pointing the blaster at the other in the opposite direction. Rey kicked the trooper who was charging at her, sending him reeling back into the main thoroughfare of the markets. She turned to the trooper that she had fired at, disappointed to realize that her shot had missed. Now, the trooper has his own weapon pointed towards her. Without any warning, the trooper fired the weapon.
Rey veered left as a beam of light from the blaster headed straight for her, her body rolling as she tried to dodge it. But before she could fully clear the assault, her arm began to burn. She cried out in pain as she realized she had been hit. The trooper took that opportunity to move towards her once again. Rey cried out as her blaster had been kicked from her hands and the trooper stomped down on her wrist. The full weight of the trooper bore down on her left wrist, causing what Rey was absolutely sure was fracture. Using her free hand, Rey tried to offset the enemy's balance. But it was no use.
Within moments, the back alley of the Gamorrean market was swarming with additional troopers. A series of blasters remained pointed directly at Rey as her hands were bound. Rey tried to focus on anything but the pain coming from her shattered wrist, hoping that she would be able to get herself out of the situation. But the incessant throbbing was all consuming.
"It's off to a labor camp for you," One of the troopers chimed, as he guided Rey to the transport shuttle that had appeared at Jugsmuk Station sometime during the commotion. Rey squared her jaw. Perhaps a labor camp would not be the worst thing, she thought as a series of plans already formed in her mind. She would have access to tools and weapons, and it would be much easier to steal a ship on such a camp.
"Not this one," Another muffled voice broke Rey's thoughts. Rey looked over at the nondescript storm trooper, her brow furrowing with confusion, "This one is going straight to General Hux."