Chapter 1

General Hux is standing at the head of the ship, watching as they descend through the clouds high above Takodana.

"ETA?"

"Two and a half minutes, sir," says a nameless man says.

Hux nods, his back still to the entire room. There's nothing to see through the mist but he likes to stand in front of the large window and gaze out with his hands clasped behind his back. It makes him feel important.

Rey thinks standing with your back to the room the easiest way to get killed but General Hux is not one to be trifled with.

"What's the status on the ground?" Rey asks.

She is standing at the back of the room, position so she has a good view of everyone inside the large cockpit. A few of them tense up when she speaks.

"Boots hit the ground eight minutes ago, looks like we've managed to keep the rebels grounded. No way they'll be flying off the planet without some help."

Rey narrows her attention to a single man seated in front of a communications console. She can feel a spike of anxiety from him.

He leans forward, fiddling with his dials before straightening in his seat. "Sir, I've intercepted communications from the rebels on the ground. They've got backup coming in hot, sounds like General Leia is among them."

"What are we seeing on the scanners?"

"A dozen TIE fighters have just broken through the atmosphere. No more than ten minutes behind us and . . . I'm detecting the Republic Cruiser."

Rey smiles and curls her fingers into fists. If they needed anymore confirmation about the information the crew of the Millennium Falcon has, this is it. The resistance has sent a small army to save three of their own—and the coordinates to Luke Skywalker's location.

The man has been a ghost for five years. Not even the resistance knew where he went. Rey is so close to finding Skywalker she can practically taste it. Abuzz with anticipation, she breaks away from the back wall and steps up next to General Hux just as the clouds clear away.

They can now see Maz's Castle seated beside a lake. The rebels were stupid to think they could stop here and trust the scum not to sell them out.

"My troops will have the situation well in hand on our arrival," Hux tells her.

"What a pleasant change that would be," she replies.

As the castle gets bigger, the chaos on the ground becomes clearer. It seems the rebels have their fair share of allies on this planet. They seem to holding the own for the time being. Certainly buying enough time for their reinforcements. As they hover for landing, Rey locks onto the Millenium Falcon, a gaping hole in side of it and she senses a lone person inside.

Even from here she can reach out and sense the steely determination that seems to be a requirement of Resistance recruitment. A man jumps out through the hole with a droid in tow and runs into the woods, away from the rest of the fighting.

"I want that one."

"Take him," General Hux replies. "I want Han Solo."

Two days ago General Hux was chasing Han for the same thing they are now. They slipped right through his hands and Hux suffered dearly for it. He is now eager to redeem himself in the eyes of the Supreme Leader.

She nods.

They leave the room together and make their way to the cargo space where rows and rows of fresh storm troopers are waiting for the ramp to open up. Rey usually doesn't give the dull things a second thought but today she feels a bit more emotion among them, a bit more individuality. One of them will need to be sent back for reprogramming.

They touch down and the moment the ramp drops Hux orders his troops out into the fray and jumps in himself. He does love a good fight. As for Rey, she walks into the forest, locked onto the energy signature of the man who more than likely is being tasked with protecting the drive containing the coordinates.

It doesn't take long to catch up to him. He'd have gotten farther had he not insisted on dragging the droid with him. He doesn't even see her until she is using the force to lock him in place, mid stride and yanks him to her, dragging him across the ground until they are face to face.

She can feel a surge of fear and defiance from him. "So who talks first? Do you talk first, do I talk first?"

She smiles at his bravado, not that he can see it. "Do you like being alive?" she asks him.

"Oh, you know. This gig's got its ups and downs but I like to think of myself as an easy going guy."

"Easy going . . . Another word for reckless." She circles him slowly, probing the forefront of his mind. "You have the coordinates?"

Despite himself, the answer to the question comes quickly.

"No, you don't." She stops in front of him again. "Who then?" This time he resists and she finds it amusing. "You pathetic little thing."

Above them TIE fighters zoom in the direction of the Maz's castle.

"Looks like you loose this round," the man says.

"I think you and I have got a few minutes before anyone finds us." She shoves her way into his mind and digs and digs until she finds what she's looking for.

He would be thrashing if he could but her grip on his is unwavering and in the end the only thing he can do is scream.

"The droid," she says, pulling out of his mind and letting him fall to the floor.

Only now does she realizes she completely disregarded the machinery and in doing so gave it the opportunity to get away. She can't detect droids with the force.

Furious at her own misstep. She crouches down and grips the pilot's face, forcing him to look at her. "Focus Poe," she says. "Tell me where the droid went."

"I don't know," he replies, half laughing half crying.

She can sense he's telling the truth. She shoves him back down to the ground and stands, activating her comm link. "The package is in the hands of a droid. Find and apprehend. Inform me of any sightings."

Not a moment later General Hux sends out a a retreat order, telling all forces to pull back. She establishes a private link with him and starts running back in the direction of the ship. "General Hux, confirm retrieval of package."

"Mission failed," he responds through the comm. "Rebel forces determined to be greater in number and strength."

"We're not leaving without that droid," she shouts at him, picking up speed.

"Ben Solo is here," General Hux replies. "The Supreme Leader is very clear about the protocol for this."

"Screw protocol," she replies. "I want what the droid has and I'm not leaving until I get it."

"Then you're on your own."

She hears the comm link disconnect. "Wouldn't be the first time," she mutters.

Not a minute later she watches the First order ships take to the sky. The Resistance does not give chase.

Now that Hux has mentioned it, she reaches out with the force to see if she can feel where Ben Solo is. She comes to a grinding halt and laughs, mostly from disbelief. He's strong. Very strong. And he's headed right this way.

She grabs her lightsaber from her belt and she extends the blade, swinging it around and watching the red blur in front of her.

"This is going to be interesting."

She can see him coming long before he actually reaches her, the blue glow of his lightsaber flashing between trees, swing wildly as he runs.

For a moment she thinks he's going to trying and plow right through her but at the last second he skids to a halt and settles into fighting position.

She studies him and quickly classifies him to be unconventionally handsome, though maybe it's his larger than life reputation altering her perception of him.

"Ben Solo," she says. A surge of excitment runs through her. "You're taller than I'd have thought, even with that sterling reputation of yours."

"What did you do to Poe?"

She tilts her head, the movement constricted by her uniform. "Poe the pilot? And here I though you were coming to see me. This has been a long time coming, I'd say. Don't you agree?"

Rey walks toward him, her saber swinging loosely in her hand. "The most powerful Jedi and the most powerful Sith finally meet face to face."

"Snoke would disagree with you."

"The 'besides Snoke' was implied but if you're going to get snobbish about it Prince Ben: Here we have the most powerful Sith, aside from the Supreme Leader himself, and the most powerful Jedi, aside from Luke Skywalker." Her voice, though modulated, still carries her tone easily enough.

She can sense a hesitation in Ben. He's clearly put off by her chatty demeanor.

Rey can't say why but most everyone she meets expects her to be silent and broody all the time, speaking only when she wants to threaten people.

To be fair, these are her only two moods.

Smirking, she stops just short of Ben's reach. "Doesn't have the same ring to it."

"What did you do to Poe? If he dies I swear I'll kill you."

"Is that anger I hear?" she asks. "That's a big no no in the Jedi code."

She reaches out to his mind but he's locked up tight.

"The pilot was reluctant to share what he knew. I had to go rummaging around in that dull head of his to find what I wanted. I confess I may have made a bit of a mess while I was in there."

Ben Solo tightens the grip on his weapon but she can see him glancing back behind her. He's more worried about his friend when the Supreme Leader's apprentice is standing right in front of him.

This is the man Supreme Leader Snoke warned her about? This is her fated light side equal?

"You are getting more disappointing by the second. I have the coordinates to Skywalker and you only care for one man?"

Ben locks his jaw, unwavering.

She pauses. "Unless . . . you're not worried about the coordinates because you know I don't have them. Meaning you do."

"General Leia has already take control of the situation at Maz's castle. You've lost this battle and your people have abandoned you here. Surrender and I will spare your life."

"Give me the drive and I'll be on my way. If you hurry you might get to the pilot in time to save his life."

Ben glares at her. "I think I'll just kill you and be done with it."

"How arrogant," she says, again amused. "That's against your rules too."

With a shout he lunges and their fight begins.

Skywalker trained him well but Snoke trained her well too.

Almost too fast to follow, their lightsabers crash against each other again and again, sending sparks flying and making the combined blur of the two colors look purple.

He fights with something ferocious inside. Something hinting at a depth that doesn't end in the light side of the force.

How interesting.

"Just give me the map to Skywalker," she says, breathing heavy. "What do you care for him anyway? He may have trained you but he also abandoned your cause. I'll make him pay for his crimes, I can promise you that."

He shows no signs of even listening to what she's saying but she presses on nonetheless, ducking a swing aimed at her throat.

"I can feel your hatred for me. I can only imagine how deep your hatred goes for a man you actually know. Luke Skywalker made you who you are only to abandoned you to this fight he could never finish."

His eyes flash. "You know nothing about me."

But she's getting to him because his mental walls are cracking and through the cracks she can see glimpses of his thoughts.

"You're afraid for Poe. He's like a brother to you. You don't know what you'll do if he dies here because he's the only person you can confide in."

"Don't say his name!" he roars, and attacks with renewed frenzy.

"You meant it when you said you would kill me," she realizes.

When his saber comes down from above she catches it with hers, their blades locked in the briefest of stalemates.

"And I won't loose a minute of sleep over it," he says through gritted teeth. "You're nothing but a monster in a mask. No matter how hard you try, you know you will never surpass your master."

For a second she wonders if she has accidentally dropped her mental barriers. This distraction causes her to loose her leverage and his blade slowly drags across the front of her mask.

She grunts and shoves his saber away, feeling it mark her shoulder as she does so. With her mask slashed, she can no longer see through it.

She stumbles back, ready for him to press his advantage, but he doesn't once he sees what she means to do.

She clicks off the mask and examines the burn on it before tossing it aside. "It's hard to breath through anyway."

She looks up and when she locks eyes with Ben Solo. She surprised to see him lower his lightsaber a fraction of an inch. His mental defenses fall for a moment.

She seizes her opportunity and reaches into his mind, plucking out the information she wants.

He got the drive from the droid and hand delivered it to General Leia. In order to confirm it was what they needed, they opened up the coordinates. Ben saw them and now they're in her mind too.

"I've had enough for today," she says, as if they were only sparring and not locked in a fight between to warring sides.

She shuts off her lightsaber and hooks it back onto her belt. She backs away, still facing him. He hesitates then shuts off his lightsaber as well and runs in the direction of his fallen friend.