Rey peeked around the corner. The droids were being questioned outside the ship by stormtroopers. For once, she was glad of C-3PO's memory wipe. She trusted BB-8 to say nothing. But D-O was an unknown factor.
"What's your operating number?" a stormtrooper was asking C-3PO.
The droid responded with an unintelligible soup of syllables.
"That's not even a language!" the stormtrooper said.
Rey took a moment to focus, line up her shots, fired…one, two, three shots: three hits. The stormtroopers crumpled to the ground as Rey sprinted for the freighter.
"Oh, dear!" said C-3PO. "I've never been in a laser battle before!"
Rey was nearly to the on-ramp when she sensed a familiar presence. Kylo.
"Where are the others?" she asked the droid.
"They haven't come back."
A TIE screamed into the hangar bay and landed hard. He was on that fighter, and he was looking for her. She thrust everything she was carrying at C-3PO—her quarterstaff, the dagger, Chewie's satchel—and yelled to the droids, "Find them! Go!" Better for them to take their chances inside the maze of a Star Destroyer than face Kylo Ren.
Rey was vaguely aware of C-3PO scurrying out of the hangar with BB-8 and D-O on his heels as she took a deep breath and advanced on the TIE. The hatch opened and Kylo Ren emerged, his cloak whipped at his heels.
—
Bellava had good news for Finn and Poe: The Millennium Falcon had been commandeered by the First Order and was right here on the Steadfast. Finn could hardly believe their luck.
But she also had bad news: It was scheduled to be incinerated, by order of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. They could save the ship and get away in it, but they'd have to be quick. And they'd have to leave the droids behind. Finn would come back for them somehow. And Rey. General Parnadee led the way. They passed officers and stormtroopers, droids and maintenance crew, and although a giant, hairy Wookiee occasionally made someone do a double take, Bellava's presence gave them unhindered passage through the ship's corridors.
"Look!" came a familiar mechanical voice behind them. "There they are!"
Finn spun. C-3PO! Looking ridiculous in Chewie's bandolier, and carrying the Wookiee's satchel and bowcaster. With him were BB-8 and the little cone-head droid.
"Friends!" said Cone-head.
Poe seemed as relieved as Finn felt. "Beebee-Ate, Threepio, come on," the pilot urged.
Bellava hustled them toward a door. "I shut down the impeders," she said. "You've got seconds."
The general opened the door revealing the Falcon, unscathed except for the entrance lock, which was a conspicuous mess of charred wires. No worries; Rose could have that lock working in no time.
"There she is," said Poe. "She's a survivor."
They headed toward the ship, but Finn felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait!" said Bellava. "Blast me in the arm. Quick."
"What?"
"Or they'll know."
Finn raised his blaster and shot her in the arm, doing as little external skin damage as possible. Bellava grunted, and sweat broke out on her face.
"Thank you," Finn said.
Bellava took a deep breath and said, "Go."
—
Rey and Kylo circled each other like stalking wolves, slow and intense. An audience formed around them as stormtroopers charged into the hangar to watch. He was going to tell her something important. She was desperate to hear it. Maybe she should just kill him. Or maybe she should flee. She remembered what Leia said to her. Never be afraid of who you are. Spoken as Rey was wrapped in a loving embrace, with no trace of judgment. Only acceptance. The memory filled her with resolve. With strength.
"Rey. You and I are one in the Force. A Dyad." He let the words settle for a moment.
She backed away toward the hangar entrance, away from his words, away from the certainty rising within her. It was true. The connection between her and Kylo Ren…
Kylo pressed forward mercilessly, backing her closer and closer to the void. "Abeloth doesn't know."
Her heart stopped. She forced herself to continue edging toward the abyss where the hangar ended and the high atmosphere of Kijimi began. Rey peered over, gauged the distance to the hazy ground. Too high a jump, even with the help of the Force. Maybe she should try it anyway.
"We'll kill Abeloth," Kylo said. "Together. Take the throne."
He extended his black-gloved hand to her. She looked at it. Remembered. The last time he'd extended a hand to her had been in the wreckage of Snoke's throne room. Their combined power had defeated him. It was true that together they could do such incredible things.
Suddenly, she sensed a weight at her back and along with it, Finn, his presence a bright beacon of light, piercing the dark.
Rey turned toward the abyss.
The Falcon rose before her. Stormtroopers volleyed blasts at the ship, but the Falcon swiveled on an invisible axis. Poe hit the thrusters, blowing back everything in the hanger. Stormtroopers slid away helplessly. Rey braced herself. She sensed Kylo doing the same behind her.
The Falcon remained hovering in the air as the access ramp descended, revealing Finn, wearing a breather and wielding a blaster. "Rey!" he called.
Debris flew past her, kicked up by the wash of the Falcon's engines. She turned back to Kylo one last time. She hated him for telling her. And yet she was glad he had. A dyad…
"C'mon!" yelled Finn.
She sprinted for the edge, then launched herself toward the Falcon. Finn grabbed her arm before she could sail by, and swung her onto the ramp. They sprinted into the Falcon's belly as the ramp rose, closing them in, and the floor shuddered beneath her feet as Poe whipped the ship around and hit the accelerator.
—
The door to the execution chamber slid open with a quiet hiss and Allegiant General Pryde stepped inside. Behind him, General Hux followed. Hux's features were drawn tight, his jaw set in what could only be described as frustration bordering on panic. They surveyed the room in silence. Bodies of stormtroopers, armor scorched and fractured, lay scattered across the floor like broken toys. The sharp scent of blaster fire still hung in the air, mingling with the faint metallic tang of blood.
His mouth set into a thin line, and when he spoke, his voice was calm but laced with venom. "The Supreme Leader is going to be very disappointed when he hears you let the prisoners escape, General Hux."
Hux stiffened at the words, but said nothing for a moment. His green eyes flicked to the lifeless stormtroopers strewn across the floor, then back to Pryde. The sneer that curled his lips seemed almost involuntary, like the shadow of some darker thought barely contained.
"He will be disappointed," Hux replied, his voice clipped and measured, "when he hears that you were among the casualties."
Pryde turned sharply, the weight of the words sinking in too late.
Hux had already drawn his blaster. The crack of the shot rang through the chamber before Pryde could utter another word. The bolt of crimson energy hit him square in the chest, and for an instant, his eyes widened in shock, his body frozen mid-turn as the searing heat of the blast took hold.
Then, he collapsed.
General Pryde, a man who had served the Empire and the First Order with unwavering loyalty, fell lifeless to the ground, his uniform smoldering where the shot had landed. His expression, even in death, held a look of disbelief—as if he couldn't quite comprehend the betrayal that had unfolded.
Hux stood over the body, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. The blaster in his hand trembled for a brief moment before he steadied himself. For too long, Pryde had been a reminder of everything Hux loathed—a relic of the old ways, loyal to Supreme Leader Kylo Ren in ways that Hux could never be. Pryde had embodied strength, competence, and worst of all, the Supreme Leader's favor.
But now he was dead.
The room felt unnaturally quiet in the wake of the shot. The lifeless stormtroopers bore silent witness to what had just transpired. Hux took a step back, letting his eyes linger on Pryde's still form for only a moment before he turned on his heel, slipping the blaster back into its holster. He had to move quickly now. There would be questions, but Hux had always been good at managing questions.
—
Kylo Ren and General Hux surveyed the hangar bay. They'd lost four stormtroopers, one cargo pilot, and two maintenance workers when the Falcon's engine wash had flooded the hanger, pushing them into the high atmosphere of Kijimi. Kylo considered it a small price to pay to encounter Rey again, to provoke her into a rage, to say the word dyad and watch the truth of it wash over her lovely face. The remaining maintenance crew had quickly restored the hanger to working order, but small fires burned throughout the bay. A few troopers lay injured on the floor; one bled badly from a leg wound.
He hardly paid attention. He kept seeing her face, the way her lips had parted with surprise, the way her body had canted toward him. If the Millennium Falcon hadn't appeared, she might have come to him, taken his hand.
Kylo really hated that ship.
"Should we pursue?" Hux said.
"You scanned the dagger?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then we know where she's going."
He'd been so very close. But now she knew the truth. She would accept it. She would come to understand that their darkness was her destiny. Next time he saw her, she would turn.