Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you? Think again!

Long story short, a month or so ago I had this and the remaining chapters finished and ready to post, but I just didn't like them. They were boring and didn't exactly do any favors for the already glacial pace of this story. So, after much thought, I made the executive decision to scrap them completely and start them over, at the cost of taking longer to post again. I also may or may not have gotten sidetracked during this process with writing meta-analysis and starting a new Reylo story.

Huge thanks to those of you who are still sticking around. Thanks in particular to Starling 12 for pointing out the story's one-year anniversary! Can you believe it's already been so long? And I can't wait for The Last Jedi, I was so excited after I saw the teaser trailer.

Without further ado, let's get back into the story...

Finn focused on Poe's ship as it soared past his own to meet a TIE fighter ahead. The TIE didn't even have a chance to fire before it was obliterated by Poe's surefire blast.

"Nice one!" Finn exclaimed.

"Thanks, buddy!" Poe panted, his voice crackling over the comm unit. "Look, up ahead. There's more. Stay sharp, Blue Squadron."

A large cluster of TIEs was making its rapid approach from the blackened backdrop of space. Finn shifted side to side in his seat, readying himself as he and the rest of his squadron prepared to meet the enemy ships. But the glint of a form in the distance caught his eye, and he stilled, narrowing his gaze.

"Hey, do you guys see that? What is that out there?" Jessika asked over the comm system. Finn looked to the left to see Jessika's X-wing flying alongside his. "I can't make it out, past all of these TIEs…"

"I see it," Finn answered, leaning forward. He squinted, straining to make sense of the shape as it came into view.

It can't be...he thought. But there was no mistaking the sharp point of the approaching vessel. "Oh, no," he exhaled.

"What is it, Finn, hon?" Jessika asked concernedly.

"I can't see it. Is it an asteroid?" Poe asked.

"That's no asteroid." Finn swallowed, shaking his head. "It's the Finalizer. The giant star destroyer."

"Are you sure?" Poe questioned. "Looks like they've brought a bigger army than we were expecting. Well, everyone stay focused. Don't get distracted. We—we've got this," he said. For the first time, Finn heard fear in his friend's voice.

"What are we going to do?" One of the other pilots asked. "Why did they bring their star destroyer?"

"It can only mean one thing, right, Finn?" Jessika pressed.

Finn let out a gruff breath, suddenly aware of the sweat sliding down his face as he stared at the massive ship ahead. He was well aware of the powerful weapons the Finalizer used to destroy ships and cities alike.

"Right," he assented.

"Meaning?" Poe asked.

"They've come to level our base," Finn reluctantly admitted. There was a tense pause in communication as he and the other X-wings swerved to avoid blasts from the oncoming TIEs.

Another of the other pilot's voices crackled through the comm unit. "Jessika? Where's she going?"

Frowning, Finn looked back over his shoulder, searching for Jessika's X-wing, but he couldn't find it amongst the others.

"Looks like she turned around," Poe observed. "Jessika, what are you doing? We need you!"

"I'm heading back, I have to get Leia and the others out of there. We can't take any risks."

…..

As Rey slowly blinked open her eyes, her vision came to focus on the empty spot on the blankets beside her. She laid still a moment, recalling tranquil dreams of twinkling stars and glowing moons. She felt calmed. Content.

But as she sat up to stretch her arms, she winced, finding her back stiff and sore. Though she had slept well, the stone ground had been unforgiving.

Rising to her feet, Rey peered across the hut to a slew of open books scattered across the ground. She sensed Ben's presence outside.

She pulled on her boots and a warm cloak, attaching her lightsaber to her belt out of habit. The cold morning air was a shock to her lungs as she pushed through the hut's heavy wooden door, and she took short, shallow breaths as she strode up the green slope of the fog-smothered island.

She narrowed her eyes as she spotted Ben standing atop the hill, facing the cliff's edge. She was reminded of her first glimpse of Luke upon her initial trek to Ahch-To, though Ben's neat, dark cloak and taller stature made him a more imposing figure than his uncle.

"Ben?" she called softly. "What are you doing out here?"

He turned towards her as she approached, his dark eyes weary.

"You're out here all alone," Rey observed, taking gentle hold of his sleeve.

Ben slid his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. "Well, there aren't many others living here," he said, giving her a soft smile. "I needed some fresh air. I've been going through those journals all morning. There's so much information in them, but I wasn't finding anything relevant. I was just—I was getting really—"

"Frustrated," she finished, sensing his feelings through their bond.

"Yes," he nodded, a smile crossing his lips.

"I had nice dreams," she said. "I dreamt of flying through the stars and clouds of rainbow dust."

"Did you?" Ben asked, sounding amused. He lowered his face to hers.

Rey moved her head back from his as he attempted to kiss her. "Everytime I sleep with you I happen to have such wonderful dreams," she noted, raising an eyebrow. "Is that your doing?"

"It's...the Force," he teased, and they smiled at each other knowingly. This time, Rey moved her face to his, and as their lips met she let out a contented sigh. But the kiss was brief, and Ben seemed distracted.

The rosy warmth of Ben's face began to fade as he looked back out to the sea. Rey leaned into his side, staring up at him.

"There's something you want to say," she sensed. "Something's wrong."

Ben looked down to her. "Yes. And I think it has to do with Trora."

"Trora? You're sure?" Rey asked, surprised.

Ben shrugged nonchalantly, but the twitch of his mouth revealed his worry.

"It's the Empire, isn't it? That, and..." She couldn't bring herself to say the Darksider's name aloud.

"It has to be be," he answered. "I sense a great movement. A great disturbance in the Force."

"Morning," Luke called from behind them, and they both turned as he approached up the green hill. "I sense trouble," he announced as he stopped before them, his wise blue eyes shifting to Ben. "Do you?"

Ben nodded solemnly. "Yes. Mostly through Leia," he admitted.

Luke nodded and studied Ben for a moment. "Don't get too worried over it, kid, I'm sure she'll be okay," he consoled, patting his nephew's arm. "You know your mother has managed to pull through some crazy things, she'll get of this one. I don't doubt it in the slightest."

"I just...now I wish I was there for her, to help," Ben admitted, pressing his lips together.

"Oh, now you want to fight?" Rey questioned, propping her hands on her hips. "Leia has the whole fleet of the Organa Order behind her, she doesn't need you," she teased.

Ben let out a breath. "I suppose you're right," he admitted.

"Like Luke said, your mother would want you here, away from the war," Rey continued.

"I can't let you go over there after her. She'd strangle me," Luke chuckled.

"Huttslayer," Ben said, looking at the ground and cracking a smile.

"Exactly," Luke chuckled, and paused. "You two managed to go through those journals much?"

"We've flipped through them," Ben said, "but we haven't found anything useful yet."

"Well, look, I'll go get some breakfast, and then we can go through them together, okay?" Luke suggested.

"Don't tell me it's seaweed again," Ben complained, and Rey laughed.

"It's the only thing we have," Luke reminded him as he ambled away. "You'll get used to it."

"Something tells me I won't," Ben muttered.

As Luke disappeared below the curve of the grassy hill, Ben returned his gaze to the foggy grey ocean. Wanting to distract his thoughts, Rey poked him in the side.

"Hey, if you want a fight…," she began, backing away and drawing out her saber, "then let's fight."

Ben turned towards her, smiling as she ignited her double-bladed saber.

"Come on, Kylo Ren," she challenged, angling an end of her saber towards him. "I'm waiting."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ben asked, sliding his own saber from underneath his cloak. A dark smile spread across his face, his cheeks blasting with brilliant red as he ignited his saber before him, lowering it to hers. "Are you sure you want to challenge the Commander of the First Order?"

Rey turned on her heels to face him as he began to circle her. Hissing sparks flew as he slid his lightsaber alongside hers, just as he had done during their dueling on snowy Drecenia.

"You think you can beat me?" He sneered. "You're just a scavenger."

Rey wore her own playful mask of defiance. "Maybe I'll scavenge you for useful parts when I'm through with you," she quipped, making a quick jab at him with her weapon.

Ben deftly blocked her blow with his own saber and suppressed a laugh. He locked eyes with her. "I hope you do."

….

"We need to evacuate right now, Madam Chancellor, or we run the risk of never making it out of here," Jessika insisted, urging Leia and her officers out of the planning room.

Leia thought about all of the expensive equipment on her base, the data files, the vehicles, the homes that everyone had built here. The new home that she had built here. An image of Rey's garden flashed through her mind, and she let out a sigh.

It would all be lost. Another home, lost.

Shaking her head, Leia straightened, forcing herself to focus on Jessika. "How much time do we have, dear?" she asked calmly.

"None," Jessika said, shaking her head. "We don't have time to pack everything up. A transport ship is waiting outside for you."

The officers began filing out of the building, but Leia remained in place. Something was tugging at her, and it wasn't just Jessika's hand.

"Wait," Leia balked, blinking. "Wait, I have to get some things."

"Please, there's no time," Jessika urged, her eyes sympathetic. "We can't risk not getting you out of here."

Leia managed to shrug from the girl's grasp and she reversed course down the hallway.

"Madam Chancellor—!"

"I'll be right there. Make sure the others get on board the ship, Jessika. That's a command!" Leia called over her shoulder.

Leia dashed through her suite, grabbing a basket from her desk. She crouched and dug furiously through her nightstand drawer, tossing her datapad and other devices into the basket.

She let out a relieved huff as she found Ben's stuffed wampa and baby blanket, and two envelopes, all of which she stuffed into the basket.

She was about to head out to the ship tarmac, but something flashed through her mind again. Leia hurried outside of the base, picking up speed as she spotted Rey's little house ahead.

….

"Chancellor! There you are! We need to go," Jessika panted, jogging towards her down the tarmac. "Madam Chancellor, are you alright? You're sweating. Here—let me carry this for you," she offered, reaching for the basket, but Leia held it to her chest and shook her head.

"I've got it, but thank you, dear," she smiled, following Jessika up to the ship. Jessika's face was pinched with stress. "How are our boys up there?" she asked.

Jessika nodded reassuringly as she and a group of officers guided Leia through the open side door of the ship. "Oh they'll be fine, like always," she assured, but as Leia boarded the ship, leaving her with her X-wing on the tarmac below, she found herself adding, "I hope."

….

After eating, Luke joined Ben and Rey in their hut to go through the books and Jedi journals. He'd found the two in the middle of a lightsaber duel as he'd brought the food to them, and Rey had abruptly ended their game to eat. Ben, unsurprisingly, had been more reluctant to meet his breakfast.

Luke found himself smiling at the two of them now as they leaned against one another on the floor of the hut, flipping through a journal. He couldn't help but picture them as children again in his academy on Tatooine. Where has the time gone? he marveled. It seemed like just yesterday that Ben's dark, messy mop of hair was no higher than his own elbow. Now his nephew was much larger than he.

"I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to be looking for in these things," Ben said, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know what kind of power source you think Snoke is using. It could be anything."

"Well, you said his personal base is on Mustafar. Maybe it has something to do with lava," Rey suggested.

Ben shrugged. "I don't know. I don't see how lava could grant any special powers."

Luke settled onto the floor across from them and slid a stack of books towards himself. "From what your grandfather told me, Rey, my father was impaired in part because of that lava."

Rey cringed. "Ouch."

Luke spread more books out between the three of them, and together they began scanning the faded, hand-written titles: Jedi Meditation, Legends of the Sith, Revan and Bastila, Force Trees, Form VI: Way of the Rancor, Blue Milk for Health, Surviving Kashyyyk, Raising a Force-Sensitive, Writings of the Jedi Order, Star Forges, The Clone Wars.

Rey lifted one of the books. "I guess all of these books aren't so ancient," she said, turning the cover towards Luke and Ben.

"'Jedha Under Imperial Rule,'" Ben read. "Hm. Some of these aren't Jedi Journals either, Uncle."

"That's because I brought some of these with me to the island. That's one of them," Luke said, scratching his chin. His beard had begun to grow out again, as if it knew of his return to this place. "I was trying to figure out what had happened to all of the kyber that the Old Empire had collected."

"Wasn't it all destroyed with the Death Star?" Ben asked.

Luke shook his head. "That's not what I've read," he said. "Many journals I've read from Imperial spies claim that a massive store of the crystals was preserved somewhere in the Outer Rim."

"But, Luke, didn't you say that Snoke was from the Outer Rim?" Rey asked, tilting her head. "Do you think he knows where these crystals are?"

"It's possible, but I don't see why he would..." Luke stopped himself, pausing to think. "Well. Actually…"

"Maybe he was in charge of protecting them," Rey theorized.

"Yes, that...that seems likely, now that I think about it," Luke mused.

Ben was examining the cover of Revan and Bastila. "Hm. I wonder what this one is about."

"Haven't read it," Luke said, annoyed by the halt in his train of thought. "Ben, are you paying attention?"

His nephew reluctantly set the book down and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Could these kyber crystals have anything to do with Snoke's power?" Rey continued.

"Well, sure, if there's enough of them," Luke said. He narrowed his eyes. "Actually, if I remember correctly, the ancient Sith used to use kyber to alter their powers." Rubbing his chin, he reached forward and sifted through the books between them with his free hand.

He shoved Legends of the Sith into Ben's hands. "Go through this one. There might be information about kyber crystals somewhere in there. But kyber or not, I'd say that whatever method Snoke is using to manipulate the Force, it's from the Dark side."

"'Manipulate the Force?'" Rey repeated, and Luke nodded.

"Snoke seems to have managed to twist the Force, to bring it into a state of near-dormancy. It has to be him. And I think he's been doing it progressively, for years," Luke said.

"But I still feel the Force," Ben said, raising a questioning eyebrow. "We all do."

"Yes, especially you and Rey, because of your bond and because you're both so naturally strong with it," Luke explained. "But for others, this is not the case. There seems to have been a halt in the number of Force-sensitives in the galaxy. Since I've been off the island, I've known it from word of mouth, but I've also sensed it. I even feel that my own powers have weakened, when they should have grown stronger over time..." he trailed.

"I don't understand why Snoke would want to make the Force dormant," Rey said. "I thought he wanted to use its power."

"He wants the power of the Force all to himself," Ben said, staring at Rey as he pieced together his thoughts. "So if he's making the Force dormant for everyone else…" He looked back down to his book and flipped through its pages.

"He may have managed to figure out how to access the Force in another way," Luke said.

"Look, I think I found a page on kyber crystals," Ben said, pointing down to the Sith book. He began to read aloud:

But beware, for the power of kyber is great if gathered in large quantities. Members of the ancient Sith Order melted together masses of kyber, making them powerful enough to alter the Force at large. The Sith had found a way to shape the way the Force interacts with themselves and others.

Ben paused to make brief eye contact with Rey and Luke before continuing.

According to our Jedi legends, doing this can give one great control over the Force. It can be used to form Force Bonds, powerful connections between people of the Force. Amassed kyber crystals can be used for stranger purposes still, to manipulate the mind. Many a Jedi has fallen prey to this form of control, a Dark version of the Jedi Mind Trick. With this power, one is given the ability to reach into the mind and body of another and control their behavior while in direct contact with the kyber.

Ben paused and looked into Rey's wide eyes.

"That's exactly what he's done to you, Ben," she said. "Us," she correctly solemnly. "So he's been using these kyber crystals to get into our heads."

Luke rose to his feet to pace about the hut. "I should have read through all of this book, but I'd mainly stuck to reading the Jedi Journals while I was here alone. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be going through Sith Journals to find my answers. Go on, keep reading," he urged.

Despite it usefulness, this great power drains great amounts of energy from the manipulator. Breaks must be taken depending on the age and stamina of the Dark Side user. Extreme mind manipulation requires long periods of recovery.

"This is all making perfect sense," Ben said.

"It's also making me realize just how much control Snoke has over the Force," Luke said, not bothering to hide the worry in his tone. "Keep going."

With great power comes a great toll on one's body and mind. Despite the usefulness of this power, many Sith had abandoned over the years, as it speeds bodily aging and shortens one's life.

"Snoke's ancient," Rey said, frowning in confusion. "And from what I remember, his body seemed mangled and old. Weak, even," she said, looking to Ben.

"You're right," Ben agreed.

"Snoke didn't tell you how he's managed to live for so long, Ben?" Luke asked.

Ben shook his head. "When I was his apprentice, I didn't dare to ask him a lot of questions."

Luke let out a long breath, a wave of anxiety flooding him as he studied his nephew. "If I had to guess, I don't think you would have lasted much longer with him had you started to."