Dawn of a new Force

Chapter 34 - Before the battle.

Ben Solo was facing a challenge he never faced. To succeed in progressing in the ship without being discovered, despite his injury that seriously handicapped him. It was not possible for him to leave the ship without a lightsaber. But he had accepted the obvious. He should give up the Fluency.

Even though this coup d'etat had brought him some relief, leaving this ship worried him. Here was his house, his environment. A small world he had learned to survey, first free and then accompanied. He had nothing now, almost no one ... Except her. He did not know where she was or what she was doing, but he knew she would be there for him. And it gave him the strength to fight, a reason to brave the stinging pain that sometimes made him suffocate.

He managed to hide under a floor hatch as he heard the first alarms. He was discovered, things were complicated. Despair began to invade him again, he was trapped. A squad passed over him without stopping, while Ben rested his head against the wall and tried, once again to repel the pain. He needed rest, again ... He closed his eyes almost unintentionally, and sank into a deep sleep without realizing it.

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Hux was in his new private apartments, in the main living room. Standing in front of him, on a coffee table, was Kylo Ren's lightsaber. Hux weighed the object that fascinated him so much. How could such a small, obsolete object inspire so much fear? Like a child with a new toy, he pressed the activation button, then observed the crackling blade. He moved the sword in the air, listening to the sound of the crackling sound. He was playing, that delighted him.

He had there a symbol of his triumph, a relic. He had hesitated between destroying it or keeping it, and then he had chosen. This sword could just as easily be the weapon that would execute Ben Solo. Ironic, no? This prospect pleased him, and he yielded to a satisfied chuckle.

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In the new rebel base, the hour was buzzing. Night was falling but in the twilight, a continuous tinkering of preparations was visible. The engines of the hunters snore, for the last tests. Everybody was hailing here and there for material needs, indications, jokes too, supposed to relax the atmosphere.

Dealing with the repair of a capricious hyperdrive, Rey heard Poe start a joke behind her, then the laughter. Poe's warm laugh was infectious, and soon they were a dozen laughing chorus. It warmed the young woman's heart, and prevented her from thinking, at least for a moment, of Ben.

How was he? What was doing to him? All these questions were unbearable and she was eager to storm.

She finished her repair and then got up, and wiping her hands on the suit that had been lent to her, she came to find Rose who was also busy a few meters from her. Rose was completing control of the onboard hardware using a holopad. Rey lifted sweat strands on her forehead with the back of her wrist.

- Here! Completed! she said to Rose. Do you have other repairs to do?

Rose checked her holopad.

- Uh ... no, I think we're done.

Looking up at Rey, she smiled.

- You're greasy here, she said, pointing to Rey's forehead.

Rey wiped with her sleeve.

- I think you should go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow will be a decisive day for all of us. And for you even more.

Rey looked up. She nodded and thanked Rose. She went to the room she had been assigned, and she shared with two other people: two communication operators she did not know.