Chapter Eleven – The Ruins of Endor
Rey's ship jumped out of hyperspace in the Endor system and made its way quickly to the surface, landing on a large, flat, promontory extending out from a small mountain looking out over a vast expanse of what had once been called the forest moon. But when the ramp to the ship lowered and Rey walked out, she found only what seemed endless fields of ash and burnt out stumps of trees. As he rolled down the ramp R2-D2 beeped mournfully.
"I agree R2, this is not how it looked before," C-3PO said.
"What happened here?"
"The forest appears to have largely burned down Mistress Rey," C-3PO said.
"You're not ever going to just call me Rey, are you?" she asked.
"I am sorry Mistress, but that just wouldn't be proper," C-3PO said.
"Where are we?" Rey asked, looking out over the depressing vista. In answer to her question R2 beeped.
"He says there is no way for his scanners to tell which of the large pieces of wreckage on the surface are from the Death Star. It is spread across this continent," C-3PO said.
Rey looked to the grey skey and asked, "Will we be able to tell when another ship comes in?"
"Oh yes Mistress Rey, the scanners on the ship are quite functional, and luckily they are perfectly compatible with R2's model and so their telemetry can be sent directly to him, so long as he is within its range," C-3PO said.
"How far is its range?" Rey asked.
"It is basically the communication system of the ship, so it stretches across several star systems," C-3PO said.
"Oh, good," Rey said, trying to find something to be happy about in the desolate place she had found herself.
"It should also allow him to remotely operate the ship as well. What a stroke of luck this is," C-3PO continued. In response R2 beeped and chirped in a noticeably indignant fashion.
"Well how am I supposed to know that it's similar to the ship you first served on?" C-3PO replied, which drew even more irate sounds from his companion.
"No, we first met on Captain Antilles' freighter," C-3PO insisted. R2 beeped whimsically at this.
"Why would they wipe my memory but not yours?" C-3PO asked. R2 answer sounded positively joyful to Rey.
"No it is not annoying to hear me reminisce!" C-3PO said testily.
"Please stop!" Rey yelled, having closed her eyes and grabbed the bridge of her nose during the argument between the droids. "Let's get to the top of the ridge and see what we can see."
They then began their long, somewhat aimless, climb through the burnt remains of the forest, littered with chunks of debris. Most were small, just bits of twisted metal that had come loose when the larger pieces had fallen to the ground. But some were absolutely massive, like mountains of sooty chrome dropped into the remains of the great forest. Rey, having no reason to pick one direction rather than another, set out in the direction that felt right. She was there to find Ben Solo, and she did not know what Ben Solo was going there to find. She was not even sure that he knew what he would be looking for. She was only sure he was on his way, or perhaps had already arrived. If he was obsessed with Snoke's history, then he would go to Endor, the only link he had left to that history. She would trust her feelings. Ben, she reasoned, would have to be doing the same.
"You say the other side of the planet is fine?" Rey asked after they had been walking for about an hour.
"Well it certainly would have experienced severe ecological consequences due to the impacts of these ships and from the attendant burning of the forests, but yes, the other hemisphere seems to be far less affected," C-3PO answered.
They walked together in silence for a while before coming to the crest of a ridge and looked down from it. There they saw the ruins of a large landing platform and several buildings in ruins. To Rey these ruins meant nothing, but the droids knew more.
"Oh my," C-3PO said sadly.
"Do you know this place?" Rey inquired.
"Yes, I am afraid I do. I worry what happened to my followers," C-3PO said.
"Your what?" a flabbergasted Rey asked.
"When last we were here, a group of Ewoks became convinced I was some kind of god. I wanted to disabuse them of the notion, but Master Luke and Master Solo insisted I play along. And I suppose I never got around to telling them otherwise," C-3PO said.
Now amused, Rey asked, "You were worshipped by small cuddly creatures?"
"Yes," C-3PO answered. As he looked around the landscape he commented, "Their trees are gone." R2-D2 beeped mournfully.
"What was this place?" Rey asked.
"This is the rear entrance to the Imperial base which projected an energy shield around the second Death Star," C-3PO said.
"Leia and Han blew it up, right?" Rey asked.
"With a great deal of help my lady, not least of which came from me," C-3PO said proudly. When R2 beeped angrily he followed up with, "R2 was also present," which inspired a new round of angry beeps, chirps and whistles.
"So what's this way?" Rey asked, pointing to the east. R2 chirped an answer.
"R2 says there is an ocean that way, and that there is a considerable amount of debris there," C-3PO said.
"Well, let's go that way," Rey said.
"Might I ask why my lady? There is a considerable amount of debris almost anywhere we look," C-3PO replied.
"I have a good feeling about it," Rey answered.
They walked for a while, over barren hills and down into empty valleys. Eventually they came to a clearing in the center of which is a pile of wood. As they walked closer they saw it was not just some random collection of wood, or the remnants of some bonfire. The pieces were placed carefully, and some of them appeared to be precisely carved, all to achieve the effect of a large wooden throne. On that throne sat the scorched armor of Darth Vader. It had clearly been stuffed with some kind of substance to allow it to sit as a person would. All that was missing was the helmet, which Rey knew was in Ben's quarters. In the place of the helmet a collection of flowers seemed to grow from out of the mantle.
"R2, check for life signs," Rey said, filled with wonder at the sight. R2 beeped his reply
"He says there are life signs present but faint," C-3PO translated. "Nothing large is close by."
"Where in the world did someone get flowers?" Rey said as she bent over to sniff them. "They are still fresh. They must have been carried from pretty far away. I haven't seen any flowering plants."
Rey looked around for any sign about what or who had built this shrine. She thought at first it might have been First Order devotees of the old Empire. But they would have taken the whole suit, knowing Ben would want it, she thought to herself. And they certainly would not arrange to have flowers placed on Vader's armor. But who else, she wondered, would want to honor him in the first place? She reached out to touch the suit and as soon as she made contact with it she heard a man's voice call her name. She jumped back immediately. The voice had sounded familiar, though she could not place it.
"Is everything all right mistress?" C-3PO asked.
Rey stared intently at the suit of armor for a moment before saying, "Let's keep moving." As the three reached the top of a small hill, Rey looked back at the armor for a long time. Then, reminding herself of the task she had set for herself, she turned and walked away.