Star Wars IX- Balance Of The Force

Chapter 31- An End to it All.

Behind her closed eyes, Rey could sense light coming from somewhere on her left, and it was warming her gently. She no longer felt cold, and her arm was no longer the burning fury that she recalled it had been previously. She allowed her eyes to flutter open, not entirely sure how long she'd been here, here being a room she recognised- the medical bay from the Resistance Base on Maridun. Memory flooded back of the conflict on Russan, and she was anxious to know what had happened on Ruusan. Had they been successful? Her eyes opened fully, and she tried to get up but remembered that using her one arm was not an option not anymore. She leaned to the right and, using her right hand, got herself into an upright position and surveyed her left arm or, more accurately, what was left of it; it ended abruptly just below her elbow. As she looked at the place, her hand should've been her friends within the room stirred, disturbed into waking. Finn was at her side first, wrapping her in a firm embrace.

"How are you feeling?" Rose enquired from Finn's side.

Finn released her and looked at her intently.

"I'm OK. Honestly. What happened? Did we win?"

Poe answered all these questions, standing to her left. 

"Hux is our prisoner; the trial will take place in a few days. Skalick and Renor are dead. Kail and Valax surrendered, as well as the majority of the troops. After the trial, we'll allow the stormtroopers to do what they wish: join the Republic and stay a trooper to police the Galaxy or leave for whatever life they choose."

Rey listened intently, pleased with how things had unfolded. She was, however, noticing a willful absence within the information Poe was giving her.

"And Ben?"

Poe gave her a look, then Rose and Finn and then back to Rey and sighed. Rey felt her nerves rising but reminded herself if something awful had happened, she would have noticed a disturbance in the Force. Wouldn't she? She'd been unconscious; would she have noticed a disturbance? Before her mind completely unravelled into chaos, Rey reminded herself she'd feel or sense his absence in the Force.

"He's in a cell," Poe finally said.

"A cell?" now Rey was annoyed.

"His choice," Poe said, arms raised in defence, "he said there needed to be a show that now it was over, he was not a free man."

"Take me to him," she demanded.

Poe's face showed Rey that he was not particularly pleased by her request; it could be because he felt she should be in medical still resting, or it could be that Poe didn't want her to see Ben. She raised her eyebrows to him.

"I'll bring him here," Poe responded, a slightly annoyed exasperated expression on his face.

"Thank you."

Poe pointed at her, "Rest! Dr Kalonia will be here soon about your new arm."

"New arm?" Rey questioned, and Poe stopped where he was in the doorway of the medical.

"Yeah, she's been working on it while you were sleeping," Poe answered.

"It's a mechno-arm covered in synthetic skin. It looks great," Rose chirped in, "You won't be able to tell the difference."

Rey looked down at her missing arm. A mechanical arm, like Luke and the man she'd seen while unconscious. Who was he? Who was the woman? Rey smiled at her friend and how excited she was regarding the science behind her new limb. At that moment, Dr Kalonia entered medical with the arm. Rey was surprised by how human the arm looked. The mechanisms were covered in fake skin; they'd even matched her skin tone, though her freckles were missing. Dr Kalonia went to Rey's left side and, with the help of one of the technical medical droids, fitted the arm.