She screamed, and screamed again, and fell backward, backward, sitting down hard in—
She was in the underground corridor, sitting on the cold old stone, her chest pounding as if she had just run from her home all the way to Niima Outpost.
“There you are.”
The voice made her jump. But it was only Maz Kanata, standing alone in the passageway between her and the far stairway.
“What was—that?” Rey stammered as she struggled to catch her breath.
Maz looked from her to the open doorway and then back to Rey. “It called to you.”
Rey stood unsteadily, her mind still rocked by a succession of rapidly evaporating nightmares. BB-8 rolled out of the room to come to a stop beside her.
“I—I shouldn’t have gone in there.” Aware that she might well have violated unknown privacies, she hurried to voice amends. “I’m sorry…”
“Listen to me.” Maz was watching her closely. “I know this means something. Something very special…”
“I need to get back.” Rey shook her head, as if the simple physical action might somehow clear everything from her memory.
Maz came closer. “Yes, Han told me that.” Her voice was gentle now, not at all the hard, sardonic tone she had employed up until this moment. “Whatever you’ve been waiting for—whomever—I can see it in your eyes, you’ve known it all along…they’re not coming back. But there’s someone who still could. With your help.”
Tears were beginning to trickle down Rey’s face. She’d had enough, of all of this. It was too much. “No,” she said simply.
“That lightsaber was Luke’s. And his father’s before him. It reached out to you. The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it. The light. It’s always been there. It will guide you. The saber. Take it.”
Rey’s voice strengthened as she wiped away tears. “I’m never touching that thing again. I don’t want any part of this.”
Without another word Rey took off running, heading determinedly toward the stairs that beckoned just ahead. Accelerating, BB-8 easily kept pace. Maz watched her go and sighed.
One could teach knowledge. One could teach skills. One could even, she knew, teach something of the Force.
But patience had to be learned alone.
—
The mass rally was impressive. Those who were present would never forget it. Which is the point of such things.
A thousand or so stormtroopers and their officers fronted assembled TIE fighters and lesser machines of war. Around them rose the central edifices of Starkiller Base. Towering still higher above the buildings were the snowy crags of the surrounding mountain range that simultaneously shut off and shielded the central portion of the base from the world around it.
Glorying in the moment, General Hux stood at the head of the assembly flanked by his senior officers, all aligned atop a raised platform backed by an enormous crimson-and-black banner stamped with the insignia of the First Order. Enhanced by artfully concealed amplification, his voice boomed across the troops assembled on the parade ground.
“Today is the end! The end of a government incapacitated by corruption! The end of an illegitimate regime that acquiesces to disorder! At this very moment, in a system far from here, the New Republic lives and wheezes, staggering onward, depraved and ineffectual and unable in any way to support the citizenry it claims to serve. Meanwhile a host of systems are left to wither and die—without aid, without care, without hope. Drowning in its own decadence, the New Republic ignores them, unaware that these are its final moments.” A hand swept sharply downward.
“This fierce machine which you have built, to which you have dedicated your lives and labor and upon which we now stand, will bring a final end to the worthless Senate and its dithering members. To their cherished fleet. When this day is done, all the remaining systems in their hundreds will bow to the dictates of the First Order. And all will remember this as the last day of the last Republic!”
Turning, Hux solemnly gave the signal as the assembled thousand turned to face the mountainous, snowy landscape. Turned, and waited.
Deep within the mountain, engineers and techs concluded the final firing protocol for the new weapon. A last connection was made.
Above, the rally ground was silent. Then, at a great distance, an impossible blast of light shot into the sky. Despite the remoteness of the actual firing zone, the light was so bright that despite their protective masks a number of the troopers had to cover their eyes. The blast was followed by a terrible concussive roar as a vast column of atmosphere was displaced. In spite of the distance, everyone was pushed back and many were knocked down by the ground tremor that followed. Airborne creatures by the thousands took fright and took flight.
Having been gathered in stages by an immense array of coupled collectors located on the other side of the planet, a tremendously compact volume of a type of dark energy known as quintessence had been accumulated at the center of the planet. Held in place inside a roiling molten metal core by the frozen world’s powerful magnetic field, augmented by the weapons system’s own containment field, it grew until there was nothing like it—nothing natural like it—in this corner of the galaxy. Penetrating to within a predetermined distance of the containment field, an immense hollow cylinder permitted a way out while ensuring that when the weapon was unleashed, gigantic groundquakes would not roil the world’s fragile surface. When the weapons engineers fired the device, a breach was induced in the containment field. At incredible velocity and accelerating exponentially, the concentrated volume of quintessence escaped, transforming as it did so into a state known as phantom energy and following the artificial line of egress that had been provided. Assuming that the rotation and inclination of the planet had been taken into account, the released blast of concentrated phantom energy would travel along a perfectly linear path, punching a small Big Rip through hyperspace itself until it left the galaxy—
—or encountered something in its path that was of sufficient mass to intercept it.
—
Overwhelmed and exhausted both physically and mentally, Rey finally slowed to a halt. Running solved nothing. Besides, she had nowhere to run to, and she could not run from herself. A familiar electronic chirp made her turn.
BB-8 slowed as he approached, beeping inquisitively. She was far too tired to acknowledge the little droid’s concern.
“No,” she replied, gesturing. “You have to go back.” More beeping, and she could only shake her head tiredly. “I thought I was strong enough. Or tough enough. But I’m not.”
—
Traveling faster than anything ever generated by artificial means, through a torn portion of space-time whose properties were not fully understood, the concentrated glowing ball of energy lit the night sky above Republic City. Leia’s envoy Korr Sella was among those who gazed uncomprehendingly at the inexplicable phenomenon. Disturbed space was energized and lit up by its passage. It was as if a minuscule sun had suddenly appeared from nowhere, heading directly for the world on which she stood.
It struck with enough force to penetrate the crust and the mantle. Stunned scientists assumed the globe had been hit by an asteroid. The reality was worse, much worse. So powerful was the orb of phantom energy that as it dissipated within the planetary core, it blocked the free flow of elysium. Gravitons that normally moved freely and harmlessly through the planet suddenly were blocked from doing so. Almost immediately, the resulting graviton flux released enough heat to ignite the core…
Turning the planet into what astrophysicists called a pocket nova.
Expanding outward from the explosion, a tremendous burst of heat tore through the Hosnian system’s other worlds, searing their surfaces clean of life and incidentally obliterating all settlements, installations, and outposts,
as well as the hundreds of ships belonging to the Republic fleet. In its wake, the detonation left behind a blazing, spherical mass. The home of the Republic had become a new binary system: one utterly devoid of life.
—
The alerts that sounded within the Resistance base were like no other. Every warning telltale lit; every audible alarm went off. Confusion reigned until monitoring and detection systems finally settled on an explanation. An explanation that was impossible.
From his station, Lieutenant Brance looked over at where Leia stood beside C-3PO, scarcely able to put words to what his instruments were telling him.
“General, the Republic command—the entire Hosnian system—it’s all—gone.” He stared incredulously at his readouts.
Stunned silence filled the control chamber. Some catastrophes were simply too overwhelming to draw immediate comment. Everyone knew the tragedy could not arise from natural causes: It had happened too quickly. That meant…
“How is it possible?” C-3PO’s optics allowed him to rove from one readout to the next without having to approach them physically. “There is no record, no data relating to a weapon of such magnitude.” He looked to his right, suddenly alarmed, as Leia swayed where she was standing. “General, are you all right?”
Leaning against a console for support, she steadied herself. “A great disturbance—in the Force. Deaths and passings. Too much death, too many passings.” Straightening, her expression grim, she walked over to confront the wiry, slight Admiral Statura. Despite his experience in battle, he was left as shaken by the revelation as anyone else in the room. What had just happened could scarcely be comprehended.
“Admiral,” she said, “we must find this new weapon’s point of origin. As soon as possible and before it can be used again.”
Statura nodded tersely. “I’ll send a reconnaissance ship immediately.”
She acknowledged his response as Captain Wexley called to her. “General, we’re ready for you.”
It was to be a conference on strategy like no other, she knew. To confront a threat that exceeded everything else that had gone before it. She spared a moment’s thought for her envoy, Sella, who had been on the Republic capital world when it had been destroyed. And another moment for all who had perished, regardless of their personal or political beliefs. First Alderaan, now the Hosnian system. No one, she knew, should have to be witness to the death of an entire world.
She had been subjected to two.
It must not be allowed to happen again.
—
The crowd of visitors who had filed out of the old castle had turned their eyes to the sky. A light had appeared there, a new star bright enough to be visible in the daytime. There was much speculation as to its cause. Someone suggested that a star had gone nova, but there were no nearby white dwarfs in the section of sky in question. The stellar apparition was inexplicable, which in turn led to fear and uncertainty among those gazing upward.
From a pouch, Chewbacca withdrew a ponipin and handed it to Han. Activating the compact device, Han aimed it at the light in the sky. Automatically, it linked to the much more powerful stellar navigation instrumentation on board the Millennium Falcon, providing a real-time reading of the bit of starfield under scrutiny. Within the ponipin’s lens, statistics and readouts combined to create a picture of what was happening in the chosen corner of the cosmos.
Before he could voice an opinion, his fears were confirmed by someone behind him.
“It was the Republic. The First Order—they’ve gone and done it.” A concerned Finn looked past him. “Where’s Rey?”
That immediately changed Han’s focus. “Thought she was with you.”
A voice interrupted them, familiar yet now turned uncommonly forceful. They turned to see Maz approaching.
“You three come with me. There’s something you must see.”
The subterranean corridor in the castle was one Maz had visited not long before. It was also a place to which she had not expected to return for some time. Circumstances, however, had changed.
A familiar door opened to admit her and those behind her. Dark, treasure-filled, and in the distant dark, a box on a table. “You will need this.”
From the box she removed a lightsaber. Finn eyed it uncertainly, but even in the poor light, Han recognized it immediately.
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber.
“Where’d you get that?” Han demanded.
“Long story. A good one—for later.” Surprising them all, she handed the weapon not to Han or Chewbacca, but to Finn. “Your friend is in grave danger. Take it—and find Rey.”
Finn stared at the device. It felt comfortable in his hand. Lighter than a blaster. Was he worthy of such a gift? Only time and circumstance would tell.
Something potent and loud slammed into the castle, causing dust and rock to fall from the ceiling.
“Those beasts,” Maz said. “They’re here.”
—
For such a small droid, BB-8 was remarkably persistent. Kneeling beside him, Rey continued to argue.
“No, you can’t. You have to go back. You’re important. Much more so than I am. They’ll help you to fulfill your mission, more than I ever could. I’m sorry.”
She would have continued but for the thrum overhead that drowned out her words as well as BB-8’s startled beeping. The fleet of First Order ships thundered overhead, dropping toward the castle. The castle—where her friends still were.
Racing through the trees and back toward the castle, Rey slowed at the top of a slight rise. Wide-eyed, she could only hope that her friends had managed to flee the complex before the attack began in earnest. Swooping TIE fighters were methodically reducing the stone walls and towers to dust, while others strafed smugglers and traders who were frantically running for cover. Their panicked flight was futile, as they were quickly intercepted by squads of stormtroopers who had landed nearby.
Turning to run in the other direction, she caught herself just in time as a shuttle touched down nearby. Without the slightest hesitation, the cloaked figure of Kylo Ren emerged and strode forward to join the battle. A stunned Rey could only track him with her eyes. She had seen this man before, in a daydream. In a nightmare.
Beside her, a tree erupted in flame as splintered branches flew. One of the patrolling squads of troopers had spotted her and opened fire. Taking cover, she drew her blaster, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The moment of panic that ensued when it failed to fire vanished when she remembered to slip off the safety. Once activated, the weapon proved as accurate as it was functional, taking down two of the troopers and giving the rest reason to pause their pursuit. Calling to BB-8, who was at her side in an instant, she started back into the woods and away from the scene of combat.
“Keep going, stay out of sight,” she told the droid. “I’ll fight ’em off.” A querulous beeping prompted a brave, defiant reply: “I hope so, too.”
Emerging from behind the rocks and trees where they had taken cover from the devastatingly precise fire that had hit two of their number, the troopers resumed the search—but more cautiously than before. Spotting Ren moving through the debris, one trooper hurried to report.
“Sir, we’re still searching for Solo, but the droid that’s wanted was spotted heading west, with a girl.”
At this Ren said nothing, but instead looked sharply in the indicated direction.
XIII
AS THE ALIEN woods closed in around her, Rey jumped at every sound, glanced sharply at every wind-rustled branch and falling leaf. Holding tightly to the blaster, she held off firing defensively in the direction of every movement for fear of alerting her pursuers to her location. Sensing something just ahead, she slowed and brought the blaster up. A figure stepped out from behind a tree.
It was the nightmare, and he was wielding a lightsaber unlike any she had ever seen in the stories she had rea
d. Its beam was an intense, burning red like a controlled flame, and near the hilt, a pair of shorter beams shot outward, perpendicular to the main shaft.
She fired, again and again. Each shot from her blaster he deflected with the lightsaber’s beam. Almost as if it were a game, she thought in terror as she continued to fire. He was playing with her.
Until, evidently, he tired of it. He raised a hand, held it toward her, palm outward. As she inhaled sharply, her hand froze on the blaster. She tried to turn, to run, but her legs refused to respond. She could only stand there among the trees, taking in slow, measured breaths, as he came toward her.
Halting an arm’s length away, he studied her face from behind his mask. When he finally spoke, he sounded at once impressed and surprised. “You would kill me. Knowing nothing about me.”
Finding that her mouth and lips worked, she replied defiantly. “Why wouldn’t I kill you? I know about the First Order.”
“I would say otherwise. But that is a small thing. Simple ignorances are easily remedied.” As he spoke, he walked slowly around her paralyzed body. Frightened, she tried to follow him with her eyes, but her head would not turn. “So afraid,” he murmured. “Yet I should be the one who should be scared. You shot first. You speak of the Order as if it were barbaric. And yet, it is I who was forced to defend myself against you.”
Having circled her, he moved even closer, peering into her face, her eyes. Then the red lightsaber he held came up: close to her flesh, close enough to cast a red glow on her skin.
“Something.” He sounded mystified. “There is something…Who are you?”
—
Reaching the outdoors after having worked their way through mounds of debris, Han and the others kept to the cover of collapsed stone walls as they took stock of their surroundings. Maz turned to Finn.
“Go. Find the girl and the droid.”
He looked back the way they had come. “Lost my blaster. I need a weapon.”
Displaying surprising strength for one so small, Maz grabbed the wrist holding the lightsaber and raised it up. “You have one!”
The Force Awakens (Star Wars) Page 18
