The Chosen One: A Reylo Story

Chapter 5: Machinations

Rey walks a little more slowly than usual, looking about and taking in the activity all around her. She hasn't seen this many resistance fighters in the same place since the Rebels destroyed Starkiller base.

X-wing starfighters are lined up in rows throughout the large, gray expanse of the underground base. In between them lie loads of equipment, some tightly packed in large crates and others out and in use, strewn across the rocky floors. The room is buzzing with the noise over 150 people, at least that's the most recent headcount she heard from Lieutenant Connix. The resistance is growing... slowly, but it is growing. This isn't even all of them.

It feels good to hear activity all around her—laughter, shouting, excited chatter, hugs, and smiles. They all belong to a tight-knit community, and she is part of it. She's come a long way from her solitary life on Jakku.

Since Crait, the resistance has made a point of staying divided and mobile. It's a survival strategy, pure and simple. But for the first time since the First Order destroyed the main rebel base, General Leia has called a meeting of all high commanders, first officers, and any others involved in missions considered vital to the resistance. They've been on the defensive for months now... it's time to start mounting an offense.

She's looked forward to this day... and dreaded it. At least after the debacle on Bespin last week.

She feels a gnawing in her stomach... regret... and shame. She lets out a large sigh... how could she have been so careless? How could she let herself fail so miserably?

After Kylo Ren gave up her location on Deveron, she had contacted General Leia immediately and begged her to let her be an escort for the crystal on its way to its final, secure destination. Leia approved.

She still seethes thinking about it... how he used their Force bond to discover her whereabouts... and then, brought the First Order right to her doorstep. She shakes her head, baffled by her own naiveté. How could she have expected anything different?

Luckily, she had already handed the crystal off to the General and the small cadre of resistance fighters with her on Deveron escaped unharmed.

After that, she was determined not to let him get his hands on the artifact.

She and Chewie met up with the transport freighter carrying the crystal on one of Yavin's moons. They followed closely to a tiny rebel outpost on Bespin. It would be less than a day before the next transport arrived.

She knows she shouldn't have left... she knew it then, and she really knows it now. But her curiosity got the best of her... Chewie invited her to come with him to Cloud City to meet an old friend of Han Solo's, Lando Calrissian. He hadn't seen Lando since Han passed away. Chewie assured her Lando was an unforgettable character and would be all too happy to regale them with stories of Han's glory days. Han... she can still picture his kind eyes.

"What's the harm," she had thought, "in leaving for just an hour?"

By the time they returned, the rebel base, almost the entire port, had been destroyed by the First Order. Rey had felt her heart drop when she saw billows of black smoke coming up from the rebel transport deck... then she sensed his presence. She was too late to save the crystal, but not too late to save a man's life. At least she did that much...

Today, she must face her failure. She must listen as General Leia tells everyone that the First Order has obtained the Crystal of Aantonaii... and they have only one more artifact left. Then... no one knows what comes next.