The stygian night was dark making the woods even more intimidating than usual. Two men restrained a woman by the arms as she struggled to free herself. The one to her left was a brute of a man with long blonde hair and an unkempt beard. His uneven smile and rough eyes were as pleasant as a rancor's. To the woman's left was a cloaked man, an electro-staff strapped on his back. His appearance had the complete opposite effect on an observer. He was lean, but strong and tall. His dark hair was cut short and ordered; his clean-shaven face was exceptionally handsome. Except for the fact that he was man handling a woman, one would assume by his appearance that he was a pleasant man.

Behind the three of them, another was standing sentinel. An attractive woman, her long russet hair pulled back to keep it out of her face. Her eyes were a striking hue of purple, a feature that she often used to her advantage as men found that, among other features, too seductive to resist. At the moment her purple eyes were focused down the barrel of her precision blaster at the back of the prisoner's head.

They waited in the darkness of the night. The only faint light emitted was from a small powered lantern that quietly hummed in the otherwise silent woods. A band of eight dark figures approached from the between the trees. Seven of them followed one. The seven followers remained in the forest shadows as the lead man stepped into the light.

The leader had dark brown hair, but was graying prematurely at the sides and it feathered out slightly. His face was rough and hardened, witnessing to years of strife. There was a cold calculation in his almost black eyes.

He nodded to the two men holding the woman. "Well done, Gabo and Kiam. You can release her."

They threw her brutishly to the ground. She fell to her knees and elbows before she could hold out her hands to catch herself.

"Keep her in check, Lura." The man ordered the woman with purple eyes. She did not move her sight from its target.

He crouched down to get near the woman.

"Deborah, what are you doing here?" There was no amount of compassion in his voice. This was an inquisition.

She gave no answer, but just looked at the forest floor. The man lifted her chin tenderly and made her look directly at him.

"Come now, dear. You don't have to be difficult." He smiled. "You know I can make you talk. I won't be afraid to use my inquisitor techniques, even on my wife." This was no idle threat. He had been taken from his family at a young age and trained in the last days of the Empire as an inquisitor.

She was adamant and unmoveable, and she did not say a word.

"Lura tells me that you had Rey here. Now why would you bring our daughter all the way out here, I wonder." He said confidently.

Deborah still remained silent.

"And here I had other plans for this evening. You have a way of always getting in the way, Deborah." He stood up and turned to the seven behind him in the shadows.

"You, go do what we have arranged; and I will meet you shortly."

The seven disappeared like wraiths into the woods.

"Do you want any of us to go with them, Ren?" Kiam, the handsome man asked.

"No, no," the man replied as if it was an absurd question. "I do not want you three among those bounty hunters tonight. Trust me on that. But back to this matter."

He paced back and forth a few times and looked up at the forest canopy which was barely visible in the night.

"Why would you bring Rey here?" He said to himself. He then looked at her directly. "And what have you done with her?"

She gave no answer and stared blankly at his face. She did not focus on him.

He leapt toward her in a crouch and grabbed her neck, throwing her to the ground and leaning over her; a predator and his prey. He prided himself in his unpredictable violence.

"Where is she?" He growled.

She swung and boxed his ear, but he shook it off. He used his other hand to grab her wrist and put his knee on her other forearm.

"Where is she!"

She gasped. "I knew you would turn on us. You hate the Jedi more than you love your daughter."

Ren's eyes brightened at the realization.

"Ah, there is something about her then," Ren stated. He let up on her neck. "She is strong. Strong in the Force?"

He watched her closely. Her eyes widened in a moment of fear.

"Yes, that's it, isn't it. You're giving it away. But why did I not notice sooner?"

Again she would not answer. His eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"You hid that from me. I see it now. You hid Rey's abilities from me."

He rose up off of her and clenched his fists.

"You hid her from me!" he screamed, as if he could knock her out with his voice.

She did not wince but rose to her own feet.

"Yes, I did." She said confidently. "And now I am glad for it. You will never find her!"

"Deborah," his face softened rather abruptly, and his voice became calm. He took a few relaxing breaths and looked thoughtful. "Things have worked out very differently than you and I had planned years ago."

He smiled to himself. "Remember, that time at Cloud City. We were so happy then."

Deborah did not respond to his change in demeanor.

"Those were good days," he said, then lowered his head and was silent for a moment.

"That is the way I'm going to remember you," Ren stated. Then he addressed his guards.

"Take her to the Stygeon system for preparation. They will know what to do."

Deborah glowered at him. "Do whatever you want with me, kill me even; but you will never find Rey."

Ren laughed. "Honey, I'm a Jedi hunter. I will find her."

She punched him square in the jaw. He took a step back. Gabo and Kiam quickly grabbed her arms; and Lura put the rifle to the back of her head, ready to fire.

Ren composed himself after being caught off his guard.

"Don't shoot her, Lura. We need her for now." He leaned closer to Deborah and whispered to her. "You see, I'm going to use you to find her. As for killing you . . . well, you will wish that that is what I would do to you. Take her away."

….

The sealed blast door of the Resistance station lit up with erratic metal sparks as the stormtroopers melted their way through. Eight Resistance fighters focused, with their fingers on the trigger of their blasters, and waited for whoever emerged from the forced entry. The door gave way with a metallic thud and fell into the corridor. They began to fire, knowing their lives would be short-lived if their blasts did not find the enemy. One stormtrooper fell through the open door, dead from a chest wound, but no blaster fire was returned by the First Order. The Resistance fighters could not see what was beyond the clouded opening, but continued to fire nonetheless, the bloody blaster fire causing the smoke to flash crimson.

Then they saw two black streaks dancing in the gray cloud, deflecting blaster fire; a shadowy silhouette at the center. Two inky black blades whirled opposite each other, so dark that they appeared to suck the light directly out of the air. It was, however, not two separate blades, but a black double-bladed lightsaber staff, and its wielder, a darkly cloaked woman. No blaster fire harmed her, as she deflected every shot. She walked calmly through the door, perfectly safe. She spun and whipped her short staff effortlessly as the deflected blaster fire hit the walls and floor around her. Then, in a moment, she held out her hands, her eyes turned red with yellow irises, and the red rage of the dark side took her. A dozen laser blasts stopped instantly in the air, some crackling inches from her hands. The Resistance fighters stopped firing abruptly. They froze, unable to move. Fear was on their faces. Each was lifted off the ground and writhed in agony. Rey held them inches off the ground, then with her other hand she pushed forward, the laser blasts returning to their sources and killing all eight of the fighters.

She dropped her hands and the men fell to the ground. She walked determinedly onward and stepped over the dead bodies. The rest of the stormtroopers followed behind.

….

Finn had given the order to evacuate, but a few soldiers remained behind to guard the rest that were fleeing. Finn and R2-D2 were busy at work at a computer relay station, readying the final plan. R2-D2 was hooked into the database and was preparing all departing ships for detachment from the station. Finn was starting a countdown for explosives, intended to destroy the station once everyone had evacuated.

He entered the final activation code, and the detonation timer began—eight minutes. The detonation was irreversible.

He picked up his transceiver and informed everyone left to evacuate.

"That will do it. Let's go, R2," he said and began to walk out of the control room.

R2-D2 beeped at him.

Finn looked at a small display on his wrist that translated R2-D2's beeps and whines. He stopped dead in his tracks as he read it.

"Is this true?" He asked.

The astromech droid beeped again.

"Rey is here?" Finn bent over R2-D2. "Where?"

R2-D2 beeped and whistled.

Finn eagerly read the translation and stood up nervously. He made a step in one direction, then stopped and looked thoughtful. "Okay, R2, you get yourself out of here. I will find my own way. Got it?"

There was a response of more beeps and a metallic whine.

"Thanks, R2." Finn ran off down a corridor and R2-D2 left in another direction.

He ran down a few narrow halls. All the halls were narrow and claustrophobic since they were make-shift corridors that attached each individual station and decommissioned ship.

"What am I doing?" Finn said to himself as he ran. "What am I doing? What am I doing?"

He ran and turned a corner too tightly, hitting his shin on the corner.

"Slimy Fambaas!" He exclaimed and hobbled down the hall as fast as he could.

Ahead at an intersection in front of him he saw the dark cloaked image of Rey across the corridor, followed by stormtroopers.

"Rey!" He called out.

The stormtroopers stopped and immediately pointed their weapons at him.

Finn held up his hands and took a half step back.

"What am I doing?" He muttered again.

Rey returned into view and slid between the troopers, her eyes still red with rage. She held out her hand. Finn stiffened and began to lift off the ground.

He struggled to speak and stuttered. "Rey . . . Listen."

Rey tilted her head slightly to the left. Finn could feel his throat begin to tighten. He did not have even seconds.

"You're in danger!" He blurted out with his last agonal breath, then gagged trying to breathe in.

Rey's eyes returned to her normal brown, but the angry countenance remained. She released her hold on him.

Finn gasped and inhaled deeply. He fell to the ground on his knees.

Rey stared at him but said nothing.

He clutched his neck and spoke between coughs. "Damn, Rey. You don't think that was a little bit too much?"

He panted catching his breath. "You need to leave. The station is going to blow up. If you stay here you will die."

Rey studied Finn, then turned to the troopers. "Take him prisoner and return to the shuttle."

"Yes, Lady Irata," the troopers replied.

Three of the stormtroopers rushed forward to restrain Finn, one on each arm and one behind with a blaster aimed at his back. Rey turned and exited.

….

The shuttle crossed the distance between the station and the star destroyers easily, as the Resistance fighters had all jumped to hyperspace. The Finalizer was destroyed and two of the other star destroyers as well. The two in the center of the line were trying to deal with stray magnetic shield mines, and the remaining five had varying damage to their shields. Hundreds of fragmented and destroyed Resistance and First Order fighters were scattered throughout the battle field. However, the super star destroyer was unharmed.

Behind them the Alderaan station was quiet, its demise forthcoming. All at once the center of the station imploded, causing some of the hollowed out asteroids to rush toward the center, corridors splintering then collapsing inward. A moment later, the intense imploding gravity ceased, and it seemed to stabilize for half a second before erupting outward with a ring of ignited gas that dissipated rapidly in the vacuum of space. Fragmented and jagged remnants of the station blasted outwardly, rushing at the star destroyers.

Most of the star destroyers were safe from the rushing debris field, but the two center destroyers struggling with magnetic mines were vulnerable. The shrapnel pierced the hull of one of the star destroyers throughout, which would have been survivable had not a large corridor fragment broken deep into the reactor core. The resulting explosion broke the destroyer into two small pieces, the command bridge and the leading bow. The other destroyer struggling with magnetic mines survived, but all but two of its auxiliary thrust engines were damaged. The ship was crippled.

Rey's shuttle entered the landing bay on the super star destroyer. She exited the shuttle first and with purpose.

A female lieutenant general walked briskly up to her. The lieutenant general was a woman in her sixties, with gray hair bound tightly under her officer's cap. She was a medium build woman that carried herself with confidence; the confidence bought with experience."Lady Irata," she started. "Three destroyers have fallen, including the Finalizer. It appears that General Hux is dead, and Captain Effoc's destroyer has damaged thrusters and cannot jump to hyperspace. Admiral Dentin has her fleet standing by to receive escape pods from his destroyer."

"Leave them, General Mors," Rey said.

Rey's harsh expression betrayed her thoughts. "Let them survive if they can. But let no one receive their escape pods. Let them learn to rescue themselves."

"They will die, Lady Irata," Mors stated, not out of concern for their lives, but for the loss of military resources.

"So be it." Rey returned. "Order the fleet to return to Coruscant. You are general now."

The stormtroopers filed in behind Rey with their prisoner.

"Prepare this prisoner for questioning, General," she said, not looking back at Finn.

"Yes, Lady Irata," Mors replied.