First post in Fan Fiction! I've read all the preamble so I hope I'm doing this right...

Title: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Author: JABoomer
Timeframe: 35 years ABY
Characters: Rey, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron, Finn, Rose Tico, Leia Organa
Genre: Sci-Fi
Keywords: Episode IX, Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker
Summary: This is not a novelization of the Lucasfilm movie, but my own story reflecting my personal 'head canon' of the events leading to the fall of the First Order and the rise of Skywalker.
Background:
I enjoyed Episode VII. Despite changing some of the established rules of the Star Wars galaxy (like communications in hyperspace), and the plot being similar to Episode IV, I thought it did a good job of introducing new characters who you cared about. I did not like Epsiode VIII. Specifically the characterization of Luke, the lack of time elapsed since Episode VII, the Canto Bight plot, and the resolutions to interesting questions raised by Episode VII.

I had low expectations for Episode IX until it was announced that the Emperor would return. It was then that I began to imagine a plausible plot that would satisfactory conclude the saga. When I first saw Episode IX in theaters, I was tremendously disappointed by the plot and script. Over the next week I wrote my own 3 page outline of a Episode IX story that included the best ideas from my own imagination and the movie.

I watched Episode IX again at home a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time, I think because the disappointing aspects of the movie were not surprises. I revisited my outline and it became a 5 page plot. Once the transcript of the movie came out , I then worked it into an 18 page script. I plan on turning it into a draft novella (not sure how long it will wind up being), which is what I will post in this thread.

Style: I've chosen to write this story from a cinematic point of view. I have read the pitfalls of this style and I believe I have already encountered them. The writing style lends itself to narration more than story telling. However, I'm going to continue, because if my story wouldn't work as a movie (along with the rest of the saga), then what's the point? I've written it in present tense, as what I'm trying to do is describe the movie scenes.
Mods: I have used certain plot points, scenes, and dialog from the movie. I don't think this is plagiarism as it's not copied from another person's written work, and I am reinterpreting the events.
Notes: Events are within current Lucasfilm canon. I am open to feedback on story and writing. I haven't written fiction since high school, so bare with me.

 

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .

STAR WARS

Episode IX

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

As the diabolical FIRST ORDER sweeps across the galaxy, only pockets of independent systems remain, protected by planetary defenses and remnants of the NEW REPUBLIC fleet.

Aiding the remaining freedom fighters, the RESISTANCE gathers intelligence and performs hit and run attacks against the enemy, while General Organa continues the Jedi training of Rey at their hidden base.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has been contacted by a mysterious voice, that of Emperor Palpatine, and given instructions to find a hidden Sith planet….

 

Chapter 1

The First Order star destroyer cuts through the black of space as it powers towards the moon. A lone fighter craft emerges from the main hangar, a TIE Silencer. The fighter bolts for the moon as the star destroyer veers away.

The sleek black craft descends through the atmosphere of the moon, a blue-grey orb almost entirely shrouded in cloud. Near the surface, the Silencer cuts through the thick cloud cover, revealing giant two hundred-foot waves rolling in an ocean and crashing against a shear cliff wall twice as high. On top of the cliff, a grassland plateau.

Flying through the wind and rain, the fighter speeds along the coastline. Up ahead, appearing out of the mist and fog, a massive, jagged metal structure. Half of the visible wreckage sits on top of the plateau with the remainder sinking into the ocean and gradually under water. The Silencer circles the wreckage, then sets down on a relatively flat piece of the wreck. Nearby are the shattered remains of the north tower of the second Death Star. The spire lies flat across the surface of the wreck. The cross shaped pinnacle has been fractured from the base; one protruding section embedded in the wreckage and the other leaning against the spire.

Emerging from the craft is Kylo Ren, clad in black. He marches across the wreckage with little care for the elements assaulting him, cape flapping violently in the wind, a grim and anxious expression on his face. He reaches the fallen tower, ignites his crossguard lightsaber and quickly cuts a hole through the durasteel. As the metal falls inward Kylo steps onto it and into the structure.

Kylo enters the Emperor’s throne room. He scans the room and its contents. Debris is everywhere, the webbed viewport shattered, and the Emperor’s throne now lays lopsided beside its former pedestal. The wall and roof are no longer connected, a gaping hole leaving the room open to the elements, where water drips down. Kylo proceeds down the set of lopsided stairs.

Kylo enters another room, also in disarray. He closes his eyes in concentration, reaches out with his hand as if to touch something, and slowly turns to face a wall. A subtle movement of his fingers triggers a loud mechanical unlocking sound and a hidden hatch opens. Kylo opens his eyes and walks to the alcove. Inside he sees a glowing green triangular device. He slowly reaches in to grab the object, the moment his fingers make contact he experiences visions from the force.

Palpatine, standing over Anakin: “a powerful Sith you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth .. Vader”.

Padme, pleading to Vader, “you are going down a path I can't follow.”

Vader throwing Palpatine to his apparent death.

Luke standing over Kylo with his ignited lightsaber.

Han, to Leia, “There was nothing we could've done. There was too much Vader in him.”

Leia, replying to Han, “There's still light in him. I know it.”

Kylo looks down at the device, his tortured thoughts playing across his face.

 

Chapter 2

Aboard the Millennium Falcon, in the main hold, Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca are seated on the bench seat surrounding the holographic game table playing dejarik. While the game pieces fidget impatiently waiting for a control input, Chewie looks intently at the board contemplating his next move. In his concentration, he starts to make soft growling noises, almost as if talking to himself.

“Are you ever gonna go?” Poe said, half impatiently, half teasing.

Finn sat back, looked at Poe, and said casually, “He can't beat us every time.”

“Accept that he does,” Poe replied, cranking his head back to rest his head against the seat back.

“How does he do it?” Finn asked seriously.

Poe leans forward and towards Finn conspiratorially. “This guy right here?” Pointing his thumb in Chewie’s direction. “It's cause he cheats.”

That prompted a loud roar from Chewie, clearly taking offense to the claim.

“Oh come on, I'm kidding! You’re 250 years old,” Poe replied, raising both hands in the air and fanning them towards Chewie. This prompted a softer growl from the Wookie, who turned his attention back to the game board.

“But seriously, take your turn,” Finn said.

An electronic alarm sounds and the three rise from the bench, Chewie grumbling at the other two. “Don’t worry!’ Finn exclaimed, holding up a hand.

“We’re not gonna turn it off,” Poe added as he turned to walk away. Chewie groaned as he followed.

As they enter the main corridor, Finn leans toward Poe and says, “he's cheating.”

“Definitely,” was the quick response. Poe spotted Klaud working in an access panel as he turned to head up the cockpit access corridor, “Klaud, I hope you fixed that surge.” Klaud, a human sized species with no arms and six antennae protruding on either side of his head responds in his native language.

Poe, Chewie, and Finn take their seats in the cockpit. Chewie in his customary right-hand seat, Poe in the other pilot’s seat, and Finn at the station behind Chewie. “Here we go,” Poe said as he eased back the levers for the hyperdrive.

The Falcon exits hyperspace. No planets are near, but a First Order task force is dead ahead of the Falcon in the distance. “Well whaddya know. Scan for interdictors,” Poe said as he studied the ships.

Finn whistled, also looking at the ships, “That’s a pretty big fleet”. Several battlecruisers where in the middle of the formation, flanked by star destroyers and further surrounded by cruisers and frigates, with a starfighter screen patrolling the outer edges of the force.

Chewie barks softly as he looks at a cockpit display. “Okay good, then we’re in business,” Poe replied as he turned to face the others. “I guess our new First Order spy is for real. Send word to Mon Cal that they’ve got First Order incoming.”

“On it,” Finn said as he swivelled his chair to face the rear console. Chewie growls again. “I see them,” Poe replies calmly.

Finn turns his head back to look out the forward viewport, “See who?”

“A frigate and a squadron of TIEs coming to check us out. Chewie, send the coordinates to Blue Squadron.” Chewie barks and nods as he begins working the communications console on his side of the cockpit. Finished, he joins Poe and Finn in watching the approaching ships get nearer, and larger. Poe spoke first, “A little further .. okay Chewie, signal the jump.”

A squadron of twelve Resistance E-Wing escort fighters exits hyperspace halfway between the First Order fleet and the ships sent to investigate the Falcon. They turn tightly in formation towards the First Order patrol and accelerate.

“Blue Squadron, form up,” the squadron commander is heard over the Falcon’s comm system.

A smile envelops Poe’s face, “Glad you guys could join us.”

The reply was almost instant, “Can’t let you have all the fun, Poe.”

“Let’s take care of business and get out of here,” Poe said, reaching for the control yoke.

“Roger that,” the squadron commander – Blue Leader, directed his pilots, “Flight One on the TIEs, everyone else hit the frigate. Flight Two circles back to support Flight One, Flight Three finishes the frigate. Clear?” A chorus of affirmatives cycled through the comm, “Execute!” Blue Leader exclaimed.

The TIE fighters escorting the frigate, surprised by the sudden appearance of the Resistance fighters, were slow to react, not knowing whether to continue their escort of the frigate or engage the enemy fighters. By the time they initiated their turn away from the larger ship, the E-Wings were already in weapons range. Four of the TIEs exploded from broadside laserfire to their solar panels moments before the E-Wing’s of Flight One raced between the frigate and the remaining TIEs.

E-Wings from Flights Two and Three each launched four proton torpedoes targeted at the frigate’s engines. All the torpedoes detonated within a second of each other, momentarily bringing down the capital ship’s aft shielding and allowing the E-Wings to selectively target the ship’s exposed shield generators as they approached and passed alongside the frigate. The frigate only manages to fire a few shots at its surprise attackers.

Finn, watching from the cockpit, looked at Poe, “not bad, this was a good idea.”

Chewie barked a response, prompting Poe to turn to face them. “Hey! I have lots of good ideas.” Poe and Chewie pilot the Falcon forward into the melee of fighters and joins the E-Wings in targeting the TIEs, which are being picked off one at a time.

Flight Three of Blue Squadron circles around, and in unison fires four more torpedoes each at the frigate’s unprotected aft quarter.

In the dogfight, one of the E-Wings is clipped by a TIE laser blast and sent spiraling out of control towards the frigate. “Blue Three recover! Blue Three adjust course!” Blue Leader, seeing the hit, screams into the comm.

Just as the damaged E-Wing tumbles alongside the frigate, the proton torpedoes smash into its hull and detonate. The explosion tears a huge hole in the ship, splitting the aft end top from bottom. Secondary explosions trigger the detonation of the ship’s engines and main reactor, and the resulting fireball consumes the frigate and the helpless E-Wing.

Poe, watching the careening fighter and explosion from the cockpit of the Falcon exclaims, “No! Zorii!”

“Did anyone see an ejection,” Blue Leader asks.

“Negative.” One of the E-Wing pilots solemnly confirms.

Blue Leader circles the blast. “Falcon, do you have anything on scopes?”

Chewie, eyes focus on the scanner board, grunts and Poe slowly replies into the comm, “Negative, Blue Leader.

With the TIEs all destroyed, Blue Leader commands, “nothing we can do for her then, form up, their reinforcements have almost arrived.”

The eleven E-Wings join up with the Falcon as they head away from the fleet. “Set coordinates for waypoint seven,” Poe reminds the other pilots.

“Let’s get out of here,” Blue Leader said. Chewie pulled back a lever and the Resistance ships winked into hyperspace.

 

Chapter 3

The dense foliage of the jungle rustles wildly as someone runs by. Rey is running at full speed. She arrives at a canyon with a river running far below. Using the force, she raises a large fallen tree that is laying on her side of the crevasse, plants the trunk of the tree in the earth at the cliff edge, and tips the tree over to span the canyon. Swiftly crossing the makeshift bridge, she continues running until arriving at the top of a waterfall. Jumping from one cliff edge to another, she quickly descends the mountain face alongside the waterfall.

Downstream, in the river valley, she uses the force to move huge boulders laying in the river to create a path for her back across the river. She runs into an open grass plain. A few strides later three black, disk shaped droids emerge from the treetops behind her, moving quickly to intercept. She stops running, pivots, and ignites a yellow lightsaber all at once, deflecting the first blaster bolt. The three droids encircle her, entering a formation with each droid at the tip of a triangle with Rey at its center, and they begin to circle her. All at once they fire, and Rey leaps out of the way. On her way down she begins to deflect more incoming bolts with her lightsaber. She stands her ground, swiveling to deflect shots from every direction. There’s a break in the barrage, she pauses briefly in a moment of concentration and reaches out for a seeker. A click sounds within the droid and it falls to the ground. Rey repeats this action on the other two droids, disabling them via an internal switch with the force. The plain is quiet now except for her panting, and she places her hands on her knees to rest.

“Record time. Well done, Rey.” Leia says as she emerges into the clearing from the opposite direction of the droids.

“Thank you, Master.” Rey replies, standing to face Leia. “I still need to be faster.”

With a single hand, Leia waves Rey over. As Rey starts walking towards Leia she makes a gesture and the three seeker droids rise up out of the grass, fly overtop of Leia into the tree tops and out of sight. As Rey arrives, Leia turns, and they begin walking back the way Leia arrived.

“You are too hard on yourself. You’ve progressed at twice the pace that I did during my training, and have fully committed yourself to it, which I never managed to do,” said Leia.

“I think you might have had a few other distractions at the time, like raising a child and putting the galaxy back together,” Rey replied.

“Those are just excuses. You’ve done better with a lesser master,” Leia stated.

“You’re a great master,” Rey said emphatically with a smile, as she hands the lightsaber hilt to Leia.

Leia accepts the lightsaber, tucks it beneath her vest and smiles roguishly. “Well you’re stuck with me anyhow.”

The two emerge from a tree line into the Resistance base. People are scurrying about between ships, equipment, huts, and computer consoles scattered about the jungle floor. Rey stops and turns to Leia. “How will I know when it’s enough? How will I know when I’m strong enough to complete the tasks that will be required of me to help win this war?”

Leia smiles gently. “The force will decide.”

Rey frowns, thinking. “The will of the force? But how do you know what the force will require?”

Leia puts her hand on Rey’s back and they continued walking. “All you can do is be ready, and you’ve done that. You are almost ready for your Jedi trial.”

Rey stops again, looking surprised and excited at Leia. “I am?!”

Leia nodded. Someone calls out for Leia. “Soon,” she says to Rey as she smiles again and walks away. Rey stands smiling for a moment, than walks to her hut, sits down, pulls out one of the Jedi tomes, opens it, and begins reading.

 

Chapter 4

A TIE Silencer flies through a nebula composed of blue and green gases and filled with lightning, Kylo is at the controls. The device he recovered from the wreckage of the Death Star is plugged into the TIE’s navigation system. The regular sensors and navicomputer show scrambled readings on one display, he is following the course directed by the device.

He enters the eye of the nebula; the gases and lightning disappear. A planet is in the center of the eye, a dark blue-grey world. Kylo descends into the atmosphere. As he nears the surface, he looks out of his cockpit and sees rows of capital ships, hundreds in total. Mostly star destroyers of various sizes, but smaller ships as well, all wedge shaped, and all painted black. They are illuminated from the light of the nebula. None of the ships show exterior lights, or light within the transparisteel windows in the hull.

Kylo lands on the surface of the planet next to a giant black citadel, not far from where the fleet lay anchored in the lower atmosphere. Kylo exits his TIE, and proceeds towards the citadel. He enters via a massive door. Inside he finds a huge hallway, lit only from the ambient light coming from the other end of the hallway and lined with giant statues of Sith Lords on either side. He strides confidently inside.

“Very good, Snoke trained you well.” The voice of Emperor Palpatine echoes loudly.

Kylo stiffens, but only momentarily. He calls out, “I killed Snoke. I’ll kill you too”.

Palpatine’s crackling laughter is heard. “Ah yes, there is a lot of Vader in you after all. My boy, I made Snoke. I have been every voice…” The Emperor’s voice changes to Snoke’s. “You have ever heard...” The voice changes again to Darth Vader’s. “Inside your head.” The voice returns to Palpatine’s own, “And now, I need you to do something for me.”

Halfway down the hall, Kylo discovers a large, open entrance into another room. The chamber beyond is a laboratory of some sort. Many twenty-foot-tall cylindrical pods populate the chamber. Some hold equipment, some appear to have doors, some are clear walled storage containers for fluid or .. parts. The room is dark, lit only from the ambient light of the nebula entering from the domed window roof and electrical arcs discharging from the roof and striking the top of certain pods. In one pod, the body parts of former Supreme Leader Snoke floating in fluid are unmistakable. Several people dressed in black cloaks, their faces not visible, are working around the pods. They walk slowly, zombie like, and present no reaction to Kylo’s presence.

Kylo maneuvers through the pods, until he arrives at the end of the chamber, where he finds Palpatine, standing on a vertical repulsorbed at ground level. If the Emperor looked ragged and scarred before his death, he looks much worse now. He is wearing a black cloak, and in the low light his face and hands appear white, brittle, cracked, and gaunt. The repulsorlift device has several lines and tubes running from the top of the device to in behind his back, perhaps keeping him alive.

Kylo ignites his lightsaber and stops just short of Palpatine. “Why should I help you?” Kylo asks dismissively.

Palpatine smiles crookedly before answering. “Look at everything I’ve given you, Supreme Leader. Your training, the rise of the First Order, it has all been by my design. But that could be just the beginning, if you want it to be. The dark side of the force has given me great power, power enough to survive death at the hand of my former apprentice, your grandfather.

Kylo raises his lightsaber to Palpatine’s face. “Then why shouldn’t I just kill you?”

Palpatine’s crackling laughter, again. “Go ahead and try.”

“And what exactly do you want from me? Kylo asked.

“Cheating death is not the same as living, as you can see,” Palpatine said, slowly raising an arm. “I tried to clone a new body, I even managed to transfer force abilities into the clone. But this came at a cost, essence transfer was impossible. Snoke then served a different purpose, as you are aware. I require a new body, a force attuned host, to transfer my life force into.”

‘Who?” Kylo asked.

Palpatine became dead serious. “The girl. I believe you are acquainted. Bring her to me.”

Kylo lowers his blade and tilts his head in thought. “Why would I give her to you?”

Palpatine smiles. “Ruling over the festering mortals of this galaxy is now a disuse of my powers. If you bring her to me, I will provide you with the Imperial Black Fleet. An automated fleet, constructed in secret, and hidden away here by my Empire; one of many contingencies. The Black Fleet will allow your First Order to swiftly finish the war, bring order to the galaxy, and for you to fulfill the destiny your grandfather could not. And when you are done with that, if you wish, I can teach you abilities in the dark side of the force that you have only dreamed of. You are powerful, but you haven’t yet realized what you are capable of.”

Kylo lifted his chin. “Why Rey?”

Palpatine scowled. “She’s not who you think she is,” he said conspiratorially.

“Who is she?” Kylo asks.

Palpatine smiles.

 

Chapter 5

The Falcon and the E-Wings descend towards the ground. Rey and Leia look up to see which ships are incoming. “They’re back,” Rey excitedly says as they watch the freighter land in the middle of the Resistance base. Rey shoots Leia a smile before hurrying off towards the Falcon.

The ramp lowers and Poe storms down just as Rey arrives. “How did it go,” she asks.

Poe shrugs and continues walking right past Rey, who stops and turns to watch Poe go. “We could use your help out there,” Poe offered over his shoulder as he continued walking.

“Rey!” Finn exclaims as he descends the boarding ramp, running the short distance and hugging Rey.

“So, bad mood?” Rey asks as they separate.

Finn keeps his hands on her arms and gives her a quizzical look. “Me?”

Rey points her thumb over her shoulder after Poe. “Him,” she states.

Finn shakes his head. “Always.” They start walking after Poe. “He’s not wrong though, you’d be a huge asset on our missions.”

Rey looks down at the ground as they walk together. Softly she says, “We’ve been over this. I’ve got to complete my training. When it really counts, and it’s all on the line, I need to be ready. Finn…” Rey turns her head to look him in the eye. “It’s important.”

“I know, I know,” he replies, nodding and smiling.

Poe marches right up to the command center where Leia is waiting. “So the information from our new spy was accurate then?” she asks directly.

Poe stops and nods. “Seemed to be, ya.”

Leia nods in return. “It could still be a trap, but this could be the break we need.” She looks directly at him. “You did good work out there today, Poe,” she said firmly.

Poe looks away, unsure how to respond, then looks to Leia and says, “Ya, but we lost Zorii, so by the numbers the First Order still won.”

Leia tilts her head, a small frown forming on her lips as she thinks. “But think about how many lives were saved on Mon Calamari because of her sacrifice. The Mon Cal fleet was waiting for the First Order when they jumped in, and they pushed them right back out.”

“Our victories slow them down, but they’ve got our allies pinned down in a handful of sectors, afraid to take the offensive, afraid to help each other, or us. Is the ending of this war now inevitable?” he asked, clearly frustrated.

Leia shot him a straight face. “There’s always hope, Poe. We just have to keep fighting.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied solemnly as he turned to leave. Leia watches him go with a concerned look on her face.

 

Chapter 6

Kylo briskly enters the council chamber. The seated occupants around the large black table rise and, nearly shouting, say, “Supreme Leader” almost in unison as Kylo continues to the head of the table.

“Sit,” he commands, his back to the council members. They obey as Kylo looks out the viewport of the chamber, watching other First Order ships maneuvering in the space beyond. He turns to face the council. “General, what is the status of the war?”

Allegiant General Pryde nods to Kylo and stands to give his report. “The war effort proceeds as planned. We have achieved recent victories at Corellia, Yaga Minor, and Sluis Van.” Pryde scanned the room as he delivered the good news, working around the table, making eye contact with each council member in turn. “The majority of strategic systems are now in our control, the balance of galactic power firmly in our favour. The last of the major systems should fall in a matter of months. At that point, all that will remain will be the mopping up of minor territories, the war over.”

Hux, one of the twenty council members, fidgets in his chair before standing quickly and looking to Kylo. “Recruitment remains on pace, my Lord. The Galaxy’s youth are being harvested, indoctrinated, and trained at a record pace.” Hux then stared down Pryde across the table.

Kylo nodded. “Yes, you’ve done well with your training assignment, General.” Both Hux and Pryde sit down. “Palpatine will provide me with the Black Fleet. Added to our ranks, the war will be over in days, not months. The fighting will end now, the First Order will bring order to the galaxy, peace will follow.”

Pryde nodded and said, “Very good, sir.”

Hux looks uncomfortable with in his chair, shares a glance with another general across the table. Finally, he speaks, “Is it necessary to risk everything on a gamble with a sorcerer like Palpatine? We are winning the war with our current, and very loyal army.”

Kylo stares at Hux for several seconds, Hux begins to visibly sweat. “Do you doubt me, General Hux?”

Before Hux can respond, the general Hux had earlier glanced at spoke up, “Forgive me, my Lord, but there is certain risk involved. How can you know it is the real Emperor who has returned? This fleet, what is it, a gift? What is he asking for in return? Will he not want to resume his…” Suddenly the general stopped talking, mouth working but no words forming. Then the gasping starts, his eyes wide, as the general realizes he is being force choked.

“I grow tired of explaining myself, General,” Kylo announced harshly. The general is picked up from his seat with an invisible force, flies across the conference table and impacts the opposite wall with deadly force. Kylo straightens and lowers his arm. “Any further questions?” he says, pointedly, at Hux.

“No sir. Very good.” Hux nearly shouts, looking to Kylo, and then to the wall opposite his seat.

Kylo rages, “Everything is under control. My control. The war will soon be over. I will handle the Emperor, Exegol, and the Black Fleet personally. Your priority will be finding the Resistance girl!” He storms out of the room, the council members visibly relaxing and sharing concerned looks.

 

Chapter 7

Rey is again training in the jungle, running through the forest with BB-8 following. Suddenly she stops, BB-8 rolls past her. “BB-8, stop,” Rey says to the droid. BB-8 chirps in response, stops, and slowly rolls back towards Rey. Rey is deep in concentration, a confused, perhaps hurt look on her face. “Something’s not right,” she explains to the droid. Her head swivels, she’s looking for something she cannot see. “Over here, this way,” She says as she starts marching into the jungle.

They enter a clearing where a wounded Orbak lays on the ground. As they approach, the animal starts groaning and shuddering as it tries to get onto its feet. “It’s okay,” Rey says soothingly as she crouches and quickly approaches the beast. “Be still, we’re not going to hurt you.” The Orbak, a quadruped whose head would stand about 7 feet high, with a shaggy coat and tusks protruding from its mouth, calmed as Rey put her hand on its side. BB-8 issues a series of beeps. “With the force,” Rey replies.

Rey peers over the other side of the animal, a severe looking gash along its forward quarter easily visible. BB-8 chirps again. “It’s hurt, we’ve got to help it,” Rey tells him. BB-8 chirps in reply. Rey moves around the animal, slowly in a crouch, with one arm extended towards the animal and making calming noises. She settles next to the gaping wound and extends her hand, placing it on the Orbak’s body next to the wound, and closes her eyes. Miraculously, the wound begins to heal itself as Rey concentrates. A few seconds later the wound has closed, Rey stands and carefully backs away, lowering her arm. The beast brays and stands, for a moment staring directly at Rey who smiles back as BB-8 quickly moves behind Rey. Then the animal turns and begins to walk away, trotting by the time it enters the forest.

BB-8 rotates to look up at Rey and warbles. “I just transferred a bit of life, Force energy from me to him,” Rey explains. BB-8 chirps and Rey says, “You would have done the same.” She looks back to the jungle, but the Orbak is no longer visible. “C’mon, let’s finish today’s training”. Rey runs off into the forest, BB-8 hot on her heels.

 

Chapter 8

At the resistance base, a large group is gathered around a circular holotable. Poe speaks first, “We’ve received another transmission from our new friend. Apparently, the First Order has found a lost Imperial fleet, hundreds of star destroyers, all heavily automated with minimal crew required. Once they activate those ships, the war is all but over.”

Murmurs spread throughout the group. Rose looks to Poe, a thoughtful expression on her face and asks, “Do we believe this?”

Poe nods, acknowledging the question. “Given the significance of the intel, and the fact that the previous information checked out, I don’t see how we can ignore it.”

“Agreed,” Leia added in support.

A young Mon Calamari officer spoke up. “My father worked with Rebel Intelligence for many years trying to confirm whispers of such an Imperial armada. Prior to Endor, many specially automated warships disappeared after their construction in the Empire. The project was rumored to be ordered by the Emperor himself, they called it the Black Fleet. This must be what they’ve discovered.”

Finn spoke next, “Can we get there first? Destroy them or maybe even activate the ships ourselves?”

Poe got a discouraged look on his face and replied, “Our source says the fleet is located on a hidden Sith world called Exegol, location unknown.” More gasps and murmurs are issued by those present. R2-D2 issues a series of chirps.

C-3PO straightens and says, “R2 has confirmed that the world Exegol does not appear on any of his star charts.”

Another officer spoke up in question, “There’s no mention of it from the records collected at the imperial palace, or Vader’s castle?”

Poe shook his head. “There’s nothing in the New Republic database.” R2-D2 issued an excited whistle followed by an extended series of beeps.

C-3PO listened to R2 and then swiveled to face the crowd. “As you know, R2 travelled with Master Luke for many years, searching for…”

“Get to it 3PO,” Poe cut him off.

C-3P0 stuttered, looking at Poe. “I .. well. R2 believes that a Sith wayfinding holocron will likely contain the coordinates of Exegol, as the holocrons were created to map important Sith locations. Master Luke suspected such holocrons may have been located on the forbidden Sith worlds of Dromund Kaas, Ziost, and Korriban. Unfortunately, he never located any of the planets. Making the chances of successfully finding Exegol within the next year approximately one trillion…”

Poe cut him off again, saying dryly, “Thank you, 3PO.”

C-3PO shook his head and muttered, “Dear, oh dear.”

Suddenly, Rey perks up. “Hold on,” she says excitedly. She turned and ran away from the group, to her hut. She returned, walking briskly while flipping the pages of a Jedi tome. When she neared the group again, she asked, “3PO, what did you say the names of the forbidden worlds were?”

C-3P0 responded, “Why they were Dromund Kaas, Ziost, and…”

“Korriban,” Rey finished for him. “They’re right here in this Jedi text .. with locations.” That sent another wave of muted conversation through the assembled Resistance members.

Finn asked hurriedly, “Is Exegol in there?”

Rey flipped a few pages forward, and then a few pages backwards. Disappointed, she said, “No…”

Leia spoke up and commanded all attention. “Then our only hope is to retrieve one of these holocrons and hope it contains the location of Exegol, and that we can get there in time to stop the First Order from taking those ships.”

Rey nodded, “I’ll go.”

An officer added, “We’ll all go…”

“No,” Rey quickly added. “The Resistance needs to be ready to strike Exegol if we find its location. This could just be a wild bantha chase.” Rey looked to Leia, who held her stare for a time before reluctantly nodding her approval.

 

Chapter 9

Rey finishes packing a small bag in her hut when Leia arrives. “Are you ready?” Leia asks.

Rey stands, smiles at Leia, and nods. “I trust the force,” she replies.

“Good,” says Leia, smiling back. Leia reaches to her belt and unclips her lightsaber, she offers it to Rey. Rey stares at it, stunned.

Rey shakes her head and says, “I can’t take your lightsaber.”

Leia gives a half smile and tilts her head. “Rey, your training is complete. You’re strong in the force and my student no longer. This mission will be your Jedi trial, and this weapon is far more effective in your hands than mine.” Leia extends the lightsaber further towards Rey. Impassioned she says, “You’ll need it where you’re going,” encouraging her to take it.

Finally, reluctantly, Rey accepts the lightsaber. “Thank you, Master,” she says as tears well in her eyes.

Leia embraces Rey. She speaks softly into Rey’s ear, “Be careful. May the force be with you.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rey walks through the Resistance camp as she approaches the Falcon. Near the Falcon, Poe asks Chewie, “So, you got her up and running?”

Chewie responds with affirmative grunts. Finn interjects, “Why is it that you both can fly the Falcon, but Chewie is the only one who can fix it?”

Poe shoots him a dirty look and replies, “I have other talents too.”

Finn grins broadly. Rey approaches and the group turns to face her. She stops a few paces from them and says, “Looks like it’s time for me to go on a mission for a change.”

Turning to lift a crate, Poe replies casually, “Yeah, we know. We’re going with you.”

Rey looks stunned. “You’re…” Her mouth hangs open for a moment, then she continues. “No, it’s too dangerous. I need to go alone.”

Finn raises his hands in mock confusion. “That doesn’t even make sense. We go together.”

BB-8 chirps and C-3PO adds, “I wholeheartedly agree.”

Chewie roars. Poe looks from the Wookie back to Rey and says, “It’s Chewie’s ship, so I guess it’s settled.” Poe turns and carries his crate up the boarding ramp. Rey smiles impishly, shaking her head as she follows the rest of them onboard.

 

Chapter 10

Aboard the Falcon, in the main hold, Rey is seated by herself at the holotable reading the Jedi tomes. She slowly looks up from the book, a disconcerted look on her face. She shakes her head and mutters, “No…” A force connection with Kylo begins.

“Where are you? Kylo asks, sitting in his chambers.

Rey quickly replies, “Get out of my head.”

Undeterred, Kylo continues. “I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it. Why didn’t you?”

Rey hesitates for only a second before replying. “You could have killed me. Why didn’t you?”

Kylo ignores the question. “I’ve got something important to tell you, something you’ll want to know.”

Rey snorts at the suggestion. “I don’t give a damn about anything you’ve got to say,” she says angrily.

Kylo half shrugs. Calmly he says, “We’ll see. You can’t hide, Rey. Not from me.”

Rey slowly shakes her head. “I can still see the conflict within you. Haunted, every day, by your father, your uncle, and all the other people you’ve killed.”

“Skywalker hasn’t bothered me since the day I slaughtered the Knights of Ren, the last of his former students” Kylo replies forcefully. His anger fading, he continues, “What about you, do you still count the days since your parents left? Such pain in you, such anger.”

Rey recognizes the baiting of his question and remains silent. Kylo considers her surroundings before asking, “Where are you going?”

“I’m done,” Rey declares, moving to get out of her seat. As she does so, Kylo suddenly reaches out and tears the page of the Jedi text Rey was reading. Rey looks down, to see the heading of the page has been torn off.

“Interesting.” Kylo says as he reads the text from the page section he has stolen. “I don’t want to have to kill you. The next time I offer you my hand again. Take it.” Kylo ends the connection. Rey looks down at the tome once more before quickly placing it on the table and rushing to the cockpit.

She enters the cockpit to find Finn, Poe, and Chewie in their usual seats. Before they even know she is there she blurts out, “Ren knows what where doing, it won’t be long before the First Order catches up with us.” Poe, Finn, and Chewie share concerned looks.

 

Chapter 11

The Falcon exits hyperspace and engages sublight engines, travelling towards a world with blended blue, brown, and green colouration.

In the Falcon’s cockpit, Poe and Chewie are in the pilot’s seats, Rey and Finn in the rear seats. Poe announces, “Welcome to Dromund Kaas, the first stop on our tour of the galaxies most evil places.”

As the Falcon enters the atmosphere, everyone appears visibly uncomfortable. “Do you guys feel that?” Finn asks as he squirms in his seat.

Everyone nods but it’s Rey who answers, “It’s no wonder these Sith worlds have been lost and forgotten, no one would want to be here.”

Finn looks to Rey. “What can you sense in the force?”

Rey concentrates for a second, then replies, “It’s as if the planet has been poisoned. Forever stained with the dark side. Almost as if it’s emitting waves of negative energy. I’ll see if I can block it, put a force bubble around us”.

Everyone visibly relaxes. Poe turns his head and says, “Cool, I thought you could just jump really high.”

Rey gives him an unimpressed stare in return, then concentrates again. She sits forward in her seat, leans forward, and points out the viewport. “That way.” Poe and Chewie work the cockpit controls to guide the Falcon through the atmosphere, towards Rey’s indicated destination.

Finn notices Rey shudder in her seat. He leans over to her and asks quietly, “Are you all right?”

Rey nods and explains, “I’ve never felt anything like it, not on this scale. The planet has experienced so much evil, unspeakable acts over millennia by uncounted Sith.” She smiled lightly at Finn, who continued to look concerned. “I’ll be alright,” she said, patting his leg for reassurance. Finn nods in understanding.

Poe looks back at them, having overheard Rey. “Then let’s get in and get out.”

The Falcon lands on the surface. The group exits the Falcon and Rey leads them away from the ship. The ground is covered in either thick, dark green moss or small, shallow pools of bubbling brown liquid. The weather is socked-in, foggy and wet – not raining, but moisture fills the air. The moss is soft to walk on, it squishes and depresses with every step, forcing thick ooze out like a wrung sponge. Vegetation is sparse, and the dark coloured plants, shrubs, and trees grow in gnarled and twisted ways.

After walking a distance, Finn stops and examines the ground ahead. “I don’t see anything,” he comments as the others continue past him.

“It’s below ground,” Rey explains over her shoulder. “This way,” she tells him as she points in the direction.

Finn starts after Rey. Catching up with her, he asks, “Below ground? How do you know where to go?”

She turns and smiles at him. “The force is guiding me,” she says.

Rey leads them to a large pit dug into the ground. On one of the pit walls is a dark hole leading underground, and entrance to a tunnel. “Here,” she explains. “This is it.”

C-3PO shuffles up to the rim of the pit, bends over and turns his head to peer inside the tunnel entrance. He straightens and asks, “Mistress Rey, are you sure it’s safe for droids down there?”

Poe responds first. “It’s not safe for anyone, 3PO, let’s go.” He steps carefully down the slope to the bottom on the pit and slowly enters the tunnel mouth.

R2-D2 chirps at C-3PO who raises his hands and says, “The agony never ends.” as he begins to follow the others down into the pit.

As Rey enters the tunnel, the light of day is lost. She activates her lightsaber while Finn and Poe activate handheld glowrods for illumination. Chewie activates a light mounted on his bowcaster, and R2-D2 and BB-8 activate lights as well. The group cautiously make their way deeper into the tunnel. There are frequent side branches off of the main tunnel but Rey leads them forward. Poe stops to trace his palm over the curving edge of the tunnel wall. “This doesn’t looked drilled .. I don't wanna know what made these tunnels.”

C-3PO shuffles up to Poe, who is still examining the wall. “Judging by the circumference of the tunnel walls...”

Poe quickly turns to C-3PO and cuts him off. “I said I do not wanna know. Not.” Poe continues on, C-3PO following.

Farther along the tunnel, Finn shines his glowrod on an indistinct clump of material up ahead. “What's that?” he asks to no one in particular. As they continue forward, the object becomes clear with added illumination. “Bones,” Finn describes.

C-3PO adds, “Bones? Never a good sign.”

The group continues to move forward. At the next side passage entrance, Finn shines his glow lamp up the secondary tunnel, revealing that it is filled with white bones, picked clean of all flesh. There are so many bones that you can no longer see the tunnel bottom. A frightened look crosses Finn’s face as he mutters, “Ah, guys…” and he hurries to catch up with the group.

As Finn returns, a giant, scaled, snake-like creature appears in front of Rey, hissing, roaring, and working its jaws that are dripping with saliva – a Vexis. The group turns to run backwards, but another Vexis appears behind Finn, coming up the main tunnel to block their escape. “Serpent! Serpent! Serpent!” C-3PO yells.

Rey turns back around to face the first Vexis. “I’ve got this one!” she yells over the hissing and snapping. Finn, Poe, and Chewie face the creature from the rear, while the droids huddle in between them and Rey. Finn and Poe unholster their blaster pistols while Chewie shoulders his bowcaster. They take aim. “Snakes, I hate snakes,” Poe declares, shaking his head as they begin to fire at the rear Vexis.

Rey quickly moves forward, slides underneath the Vexis’ head, and rises up beside its neck. Raising her lightsaber clean through the creature’s neck as she does so, beheading and killing it.

The rear Vexis continues to charge forward. Finn, Poe, and Chewie continue to pour blasterfire into the creature. It eventually slows as blaster bolts begin removing chunks and then whole sections of its armoured scales. Finally, it collapses into a smoking hulk, dead.

The group stays still and silent for a moment, panting. “Is that it?” Poe says. The distant sound of scraping dirt and hissing can be heard coming from both directions, rising in volume.

“Had to say something, hey?” Finn said, looking towards Poe with an outraged look on his face. R2-D2 and BB-8 begin to communicate with each other. Their fast beeps, chirps, and whistles becoming less audible over the noises from the approaching Vexis. The second wave of snakes finally appear, several from both in front and behind, moving quickly and aggressively towards the group. Rey, Finn, Poe, and Chewie prepare to do battle again when R2-D2 and BB-8 separate, moving in different directions.

“Are you two suicidal!?” C-3PO yells after them.

R2-D2 moves out in front of Rey and BB-8 in front of the three males, surprising the humans as the Vexis are almost within striking range. The two droids stop at either end of the Resistance group, between their friends and the Vexis. They activate their holoprojectors and a giant hologram of a K'lor'slug appears between each droid and the attacking creatures. The blue hued slugs, filling the entire cavern passage and greatly outweighing each snake, work their salarcc-like mouths and razor sharp mandibles in a frezy, complete with high-pitched shrieking. The snakes stop immediately, assessing the new combatants. Rey closes her eyes in concentration. A moment later, the droids have the holographic slugs race forward towards the snakes, carried on their multiple, razor sharp looking legs. The snakes panic, turn, and slither past each other as they rush to vacate the primary tunnel in both directions, away from the slugs and the Resistance members.

The droids deactivate their holoprojectors and the fierce slugs fade into nothingness. Poe, with an amazed look on his face, looks at each of the droids, and shouts “BB-8, R2 that was amazing!” BB-8 rolls back towards the group and Poe kneels to embrace the droid who beeps loudly. Rey bends over R2-D2 as he returns and says softly, “Thank you.” To which R2-D2 replies with a happy whistle.

The group cautiously proceed up the tunnel, encountering no further resistance in the short distance before reaching a heavy looking durasteel blast door. Rey closes her eyes and says, “It’s a vault, I can use the force to open it.” She closes her eyes and a loud mechanical sound clangs from behind the door. Opening her eyes, Rey watches as the blast door slowly cranks open in rusted protest. On the other side of the blast door is a durasteel vault, about the size of a small airspeeder. Inside the vault lies a single, small armored chest. Again, Rey opens it with the force. The lid clicks unlocked, and slowly opens without a sound. Revealing, nothing inside. An empty box. Everyone has a deflated look on their face as they peer inside the chest and realize Dromund Kaas will not be providing them with a Sith wayfinder.

 

Chapter 12

The Falcon leaves the atmosphere of Dromund Kaas and enters space, flying near one of its moons. As it passes, several ships emerge from the far side of the moon, blazing an intercept course for the Falcon.

In the Falcon’s cockpit, alarms start blaring. Poe and Chewie move frantically in their seats, flipping switches and viewing sensor readouts as they try to understand the situation. “What is it?” Rey asks worriedly from her rear seat.

A loud metal clang echoes within the ship. “Bounty hunters,” Poe says negatively.

Four ships pursue the Falcon. One has already attached a magnetic grapple to the hull of the Falcon. The three other ships each fire a grapple of their own, slamming into the rear hull of the Falcon and locking in place with metal fingers, warping the hull plating of the Falcon in the process. A tow cable trails from each magnetic clamp back to the bounty hunting ships.

“Chewie, try polarizing the hull,” Poe says frantically as the Falcon’s engines strain and the ship loses velocity. Chewie barks in frustration as he works the cockpit controls.

“Can’t we just jump into hyperspace?” Finn asks nervously.

“Sure, but we may end up leaving half the Falcon behind or take half of them with us.” Poe pauses to flips some switches and work the steering controls. “Either way, we wouldn’t be in hyperspace for long”.

Suddenly a First Order star destroyer exits hyperspace behind and abeam of the bounty hunting ships and pointed right at them. The star destroyer immediately opens up with its turbolasers, pulverizing the four ships latched onto the Falcon in seconds. The magnetic clamps open and the cables fall free from the Falcon’s hull as their umbilical’s are cut.

“Out of the frying pan and right into the fire,” Poe stammers as he reaches for the controls. He hesitates, and looks over to Chewie, “Wait for the tractor beam.”

General Hux appears on the console holocomm display, sitting at his desk in an office aboard the star destroyer. “What are you waiting for, go you fools!”

Chewie slams down the throttles, engaging the sublight engines and begins plotting their hyperspace course. Poe looks at the image of Hux, astonished. “Why are you helping us?”

Hux sighs. “I’m the spy.”

“What!?”

“You!?”

Poe and Finn exclaim at the same time while Chewie roars.

Poe processes the news and then asks curiously, “Okay, but still. Why?”

Hux looks disgusted. “I don’t care if you win, I need Kylo Ren to loose. He’s mad, and he’s about to ruin everything we’ve built, everything we’ve worked so hard for. The galaxy grows tired of wizards determining its fate, once Kylo is out of the way, I’ll be able to guide the First Order to victory.”

Finn shakes his head. “Whatever man, do you know where Exegol is?”

Hux leans in closer to the imager. “No, only Ren knows. He didn’t just stumble upon the fleet by himself, he was summonsed there.”

This piqued Rey’s interest, a thoughtful expression crossing her face and she asks, “Summonsed? By who?”

Hux exhales. “The late Emperor, resurrected.”

“What?!” everyone in the Falcon’s cockpit exclaims together.

Hux waves his hand, as if this is not the first time explaining the unbelievable news. “He’s after the girl.” Hux nodded at the lens. “Ren’s been promised the fleet for the girl.”

Finn leans farther out of his seat, to get a clearer path to the holocomm. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”

Hux shrugs and with a wry smile replies, “Would you have believed it?” Hux looks away from the camera and his face turns serious. “Go,” he whispers. The holocomm image disappears.

Chewie engages the hyperdrive, and the Falcon jumps to lightspeed. The four of them sit in the cockpit in silence for several seconds, processing the news. Finally, Poe says, “I knew it was Hux!” Finn and Chewie groan at Poe. Both reaching out to shove his shoulder and pushing him off his seat into the cockpit console.

 

Hux decides to spy for the resistance....Because he's just that petty. Will never not laugh.

 

Chapter 13

The Falcon roars into an atmosphere, this time belonging to a planet with a colour pallet spanning every shade of brown. As the Falcon comes down, the surface is a desert landscape, with rough, rocky hills and small plateaus rising out of the drifting sand. The Falcon lands on the flat top of a plateau that is not much bigger than the ship itself.

The group disembarks down the Falcon’s boarding ramp. “Welcome to Ziost,” Poe says dryly as the ramp to the Falcon hisses closed. They follow a natural path around the plateau’s perimeter which leads down to the surface. Rey leads the group across the desert floor to the nearest plateau, a few hundred paces away.

Arriving at the base of this larger plateau, they circle around the giant rock formation until they arrive at a durasteel hatch that is half buried in sand. Rey turns to the rest of the group and says, “Watch your eyes”. Rey raises an arm and the wind picks up; the others raise arms to block the blowing sand. Soon the door is free of sand, a pathway made with the force. Rey then uses the force to trigger the hatch mechanism, the door groans open fighting against years of built-up rust and grit. Rey unclips the lightsaber from her belt and steps through the man-sized hatch, while C-3PO whines, “Oh, do we have to do this again?”

Poe looks at him. “What are you scared of 3PO, besides giant worms?”

C-3PO returns Poe’s gaze and replies, “Why the Sith of course.” Looking around, as if checking for eavesdroppers he then adds quietly, “And so should you.”

Poe chuckles as he unholsters his blaster and moves towards the hatch. “What, you’re afraid they’re going to turn you to the dark side?” R2-D2 chitters at the jab and C-3PO shakes his head as he follows the others into the hatch.

Inside the hatch they enter a hollow cavern, the inside of the plateau has been carved out. It is about the same size of the Falcon with a 12-foot high ceiling. A large vault blast door, like the one they found on Dromund Kaas, is located on the wall opposite the hatch. Several smaller blast doors are located at various locations on the rocky walls and ceiling.

As the group slowly makes their way towards the vault, Finn nervously looks around and comments, “What’s the catch?”

The hatch they entered through closes as embedded lights in the rocky cavern illuminate the darkness, revealing dust and cobwebs. Before the group has a chance to look around, a tall, narrow hatch located within the vault blast door loudly snaps open. A skeletal protocol droid wearing a black hooded cloak slowly shuffles out from the hatch. The droid is an ancient model, and its red eyes glow from underneath the cloak hood. C-3PO does several double takes between the new droid and Poe, his gaze finally landing on Poe who shrugs and admits, “Okay, but, who knew?”

The Sith droid comes to a stop several feet from its alcove and with a deep baritone vocoder utters a message in a foreign language. As he finishes, the smaller blast doors seen around the cave begin to retract, revealing ancient, and very large disruptor canon emplacements. The canons cover the cavern with overlapping fields of fire. The group, startled, closes rank in front of the Sith droid, each of them scanning the room trying to identify all the new threat locations and aiming weapons. “Whoa, whoa, whoa .. easy there friend,” Poe directs his attention to the droid as the noise of the retracting doors subsides.

The group remains still for a second before Rey asks, “3PO, can you talk to it?”

C-3PO steps forward and directs his attention at Rey. “Why yes, mistress Rey. I am fluent in over seven million forms of communication.”

Finn asks C-3PO quietly, “What did it say?”

C-3PO turns his body towards Finn. “I’m afraid I cannot tell you,” the droid says calmly.

Finn gets a frustrated look and replies, “Why not, you said you could talk to it.”

C-3PO stares at Finn for a moment as if he’s missing the obvious. “The language is mystic Sith I’m afraid, and my programming forbids me from translating it.”

“Your what?!”

“3PO!”

Poe and Finn yell in sync as Chewie palms his face.

When the outrage subsides, Rey says calmly, “Try basic.”

C-3PO turns towards Rey, bows slightly, and then turns towards the ancient droid and says, “Hello, I am C-3PO, human cyborg relations. And you are?” The Sith droid remains completely still.

R2-D2 issues a series of beeps, and C-3PO turns towards him. “Ah yes, I see your point R2.” He then turns back towards Rey and Finn. “I cannot translate the language for you; however I can speak with this disreputable soul.”

Poe shakes his head. “Way to make a new friend 3PO, just get the door open.”

C-3PO has a conversation with the Sith droid in the mystic Sith language. As the conversation reaches an end, C-3PO takes a surprised step back and utters, “How rude.”

R2-D2 whistles at C-3PO, but C-3PO appears to cut him off and replies, “R2, leave this to the professionals.”

R2-D2 whistles again at C-3PO, loudly and insistently this time. C-3PO does a double take looking at R2-D2, and giving up, turns to the Sith droid and speaks in the Sith language again. When C-3PO finishes, R2-D2 whistles more instructions for him to translate. When finished, C-3PO quickly turns to R2-D2 and snappily says “So your programming has finally fragmented, is that it?” R2-D2 issues another loud whistle in response and C-3PO turns and continues to talk to the Sith droid.

When C-3PO finishes speaking, Finn looks concerned and asks him, “What is R2 saying?”

C-3PO turns to Finn and replies, “I’m afraid R2 is malfunctioning, he seems to think…” C-3PO is cut short as a loud scanning device activates from the top of the Sith droid’s alcove. The device emits blue scanning beams that run from C-3PO’s head down his entire body, and up again.

The Sith droid lifts his chin slightly and declares, “Lord Vader has visited us before.” Mechanical noises drown out everything as the blast doors close over the disrupter cannon alcoves and the droid reverses back into the vault door, his hatch closing as he enters. The vault door then begins to crank open.

C-3PO turns to R2-D2 and says over the door opening, “R2-D2, are you telling me .. the maker .. OH MY!” His head twitching as he processes the information.

Finn looks confused and asks as the door finishes opening, “What did you tell that droid?”

C-3PO turns away from R2-D2, looking at the floor. “That I was created by a dark lord of the Sith and I’ve been sent on a mission on his behalf.”

Poe scoffs as he moves towards the now open vault. “And he bought that?”

R2-D2 tweets at C-3PO then C-3PO berates R2-D2, “Protect me? And just what other dirty little secrets are you carrying within your rusted dome?” R2-D2 chitters back in response.

The group moves in closer to inspect the contents of the vault. Several ceremonial daggers, masks, crystals, and a single green triangular holocron are displayed on tiers. Finn eyes the holocron and turns to Rey. “Is that it? he asks excitedly.

“I think so,” Rey replies cautiously as she moves forward into the vault. Chewie, Finn and Poe move with her, wary of further traps. Rey reaches in, and lightly touches the holocron with her fingers, triggering visions from the force.

Rey, as a child, shouting to an ascending transport ship on Jakku. “No, come back!”

Obi-Wan Kenobi. “Rey, these are your first steps.”

Han, back on Takodana. “Rey. I’ve been thinkin’ about bringing on some more crew.”

Luke, in the tree library on Ahch-To. “Who are you?”

Kylo, in his quarters. “Your parents. Looking for them everywhere .. in Han Solo .. now in Skywalker.”

Kylo, in Snoke’s throne room. “They were filthy junk traders who sold you off for drinking money.”

Rey comes back to reality, opening her eyes with a huge gasp of air, trembling on unsteady legs. Finn surges forward, steadying her. “Are you all right?” He asks quickly.

She nods. “I’m fine,” she reassures him, composing herself. “It’s a wayfinder,” she confirms as she nods to the holocron, and then slowly reaches again and grasps it with no difficulty.

Poe waves to the rest of the vault’s contents. “What about the rest of this stuff, do we bring it?”

Rey shakes her head, “There’s great power in these items, great evil…” She pauses as she reaches out with the Force before finishing, “They’re not to be trusted, they stay.”

Poe shrugs and says, “Works for me. We got what we came for, let’s jet.” The group turns and walks away from the vault towards the hatch to exit the cavern. The vault door begins to close. Rey stares at the wayfinder in her hand as she walks.

 

Good call, Poe.