Chapter Twenty Two – The Battle for Rey's Soul Begins

Finn and Chewie, who did not have the benefit of Palpatine's voice guiding them in the right direction, wandered around the palace for a lot longer than Rey before they found the tunnel to the hangar. Getting through it was also more difficult on account of Chewie's size. When they emerged from the tunnel and found themselves in the hangar, they could see the reactor, which had turned on sometime between Rey's arrival and theirs. But at some point over the years, the reactor had been rewired, so that none of the power was going to the hangar or the palace. So despite the reactor being on, and emitting some light, the reactor hall was still far too dark for Finn and Chewie to see to the bottom. The two of them walked towards the center of the reactor, to the place where Qui-Gon Jinn had long ago been killed, hoping to find Rey there.

Finn kept feeling his mind being pulled to the bottom of the reactor hall, and said, "Something's down there. How are you supposed get down?"

Chewie shrugged and continued walking towards the center of the reactor hall. As they got closer, they could see the force fields around the central core, glowing ominously in the night's gloom. Chewie stopped as he saw the fields begin to open. Without them blocking his vision he could see a figure walking towards them. A moment later he saw the blue light of Rey's lightsaber appear, and saw that it was indeed Rey walking towards them.

The sound of the lightsaber igniting pulled Finn's attention from figuring out how to descend through the hall and he looked up. When he saw her he called out, "Rey?" Chewie started to run towards their friend when Finn grabbed his arm to stop him. When Chewie looked back at him with a puzzled look Finn said, "I've got a…bad…,"

Before he could finish his comment Rey began to sprint towards them, her lightsaber flashing in her hand. Finn stepped in front of Chewbacca and yelled, "Rey? Rey!"

As she ran, Rey put a second hand on her lightsaber. She pulled the saber back as she approached them, preparing to strike. Finn lifted his hands up in an instinctive attempt to block her swing, but Chewie pulled Finn back, putting himself between him and Rey while also trying to drop them both out of the way. Rey's saber strike hit Chewie in the back, and he fell screaming.

"Chewie!" Finn shouted in fear and grief, thinking he would be next. But when Finn looked up at Rey, she only stared blankly at Chewbacca's body and seemed to give no notice to Finn.

Within her mind another, similar scene was unfolding. Rey lay on the walkway, with Chewbacca between her and Finn. Above Chewbacca, holding a red lightsaber, stood the Emperor, clad in black robes. Above him Rey did not see the night sky, but that of sunset. When Rey realized what had happened she screamed, "Chewie!"

Palpatine turned towards her and said, "Silence, foolish girl!"

In the real world, Rey, possessed by Palpatine turned slowly to Finn. In her eyes Finn could see a flicker of red light. When Rey stepped over Chewie's prone body, Finn swiftly got to his feet and started to run, with Rey in hot pursuit.

In her mind, Rey stood up, horrified at what had happened, at what, in some sense, she had done. She watched as the Emperor chased after Finn, knowing that when he caught him, or rather when Rey caught him, her friend would die. She closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. When she opened them, a lightsaber, activated and glowing blue, was in her hand. She sprinted after the image of Palpatine and struck at him from behind. He deftly turned and easily parried her attack. But at the same time it seemed to Rey that he split in two, one version of himself standing to face her, and one continuing his pursuit of Finn.

"My mind was split for years child. You cannot save him," Palpatine said. "You cannot save any of them.

In the real world Finn, looking over his shoulder, saw Rey slow her pursuit ever so slowly. He took the opportunity to jump headlong into the tunnel back to the palace. He hit the ground and rolled as he did so, managing to pop back up without missing a beat. He did not look back as he heard Rey drop into the tunnel behind him. He emerged from the tunnel into the palace and tripped briefly over some of the cracked and scattered masonry, but was able, with his customary luck, to avoid falling. With all the energy he could muster, he sprinted towards the exit.

In Rey's mind Palpatine Force grabbed Rey by the throat and threw her across the room, so that she landed near the tunnel entrance. She jumped up and blocked the blow from his lightsaber just before it claimed her head. When Rey tried to counterattack she was almost killed by Palpatine's riposte. Falling back she fell into the tunnel.

When she landed, however, she was not in the tunnel. She was not even on Naboo. She stook up and looked around at a sight she had only ever seen in holorecordings, the Jedi Council chamber in the Temple on Coruscant. She knew that the place no longer existed, having been destroyed by Imperial troops when their attempt to hold Coruscant failed. When she looked out the windows she saw the Coruscant skyline, familiar to her from her childhood dreams in Padme's apartment. And just like then, there were no cars in the sky. But unlike in those dreams, she saw the sun just about set in the distance.

From behind her she heard a voice she did not recognize, but when she turned to see who it was she saw a face that she did, again only from holorecordings.

"Hello Rey," Qui-Gon Jinn said gently.

In the real world Finn ran out of the palace, and looked around, seeing no one. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Kylo! Kylo!"

Ben had just finished crossing the bridge when he heard Finn's call, and made his way with all speed back to the plaza. When he arrived he found Finn backing up towards the Falcon. In the palace all was darkness, except a faint blue light moving slowly back and forth. "What is it?" Ben shouted.

"She's here, but something's wrong. I think…I think she killed Chewie," Finn said, almost in tears.

Ben looked towards the palace and closed his eyes. When he opened them, his doubt was gone. He knew what he had to do. He turned to Finn, grabbing him by the shoulders as he asked, "Can you fly my ship?"

"I've never flown one of those. Come on, we've got to go. Get on the Falcon and…," Finn started to say.

"You need to calm down, and listen," Ben interrupted firmly. "You can fly that thing. You just need to listen. You need to take that ship up and out of the interference. You need to tell your fleet to come. You need to tell them what happened and…that if we haven't come back up with the Falcon in an hour, that they need to bombard this city. With everything they have."

"What you mean? Kill her? No!" Finn yelled.

"He has her Finn. If I can't stop him you have to. And then…," Ben said as he stepped backwards and turned towards the palace. He ignited his lightsaber and turned his head to Finn and said, "…pass on what you have learned. Do you understand?"

Finn looked at the palace, where the blue light waited for someone to enter. He looked back at Ben and said, "Save her."

Ben nodded and started on his way towards the palace. Finn ran towards the TIE Fighter and when he got there, turned back around. "Ben!" he called out, "May the Force be with you!" Ben stopped for a moment and nodded without looking back.

Finn climbed into the TIE Fighter, sat down and buckled in. He looked at the control board, and realized that his limited experience with a TIE Fighter years ago with Poe piloting was not going to help him much with this more advanced version built for Kylo Ren. He took a breath and closed his eyes.

"Do not be afraid," came Anakin Skywalker's voice.

Finn's hands moved to the controls, and the TIE lifted into the air. As he turned Finn could see Ben Solo, red lightsaber shining brightly in the night, entering Theed Palace.