Force Destiny

Patience

"Blue, initiate wing tilt," Kylo said as they entered the Ilum atmosphere. On radar, Kylo easily spotted the Millennium Falcon, set down near a large mining camp belonging to the First Order. They were blowing holes in the side of a precipice to access the immense crystals buried at its center. Only those crystals could be used for the superweapons of the First Order. He shook his head in disbelief.

How could she be so careless? How could she go to the same forsaken planet that supported First Order's largest mining operation?

Dameron should have known better, and Rey's friend should have heeded Kylo's warning. There were hundreds of other planets in the galaxy with Kyber crystals. He would have given her the name of any of them if she had just asked. Did she not feel the presence of the First Order there? She should have known better. What did she think she would do after she got her crystal? How could she not have anticipated that the First Order would be patiently waiting for her, even after he told her that they could track that piece of junk? What concerned him most was that they hadn't tracked it. His general had been enlightened by an informant who knew where she would be going.

Blasterfire on the ground caught his attention, and his blood was instantly alight in burning rage. Troopers from the mining camp had found her. He had warned Hux not to engage them, and those were not the blue bolts of rifles set to stun.

I will kill Hux! I will tear his mind apart until he begs for death!

His thoughts were interrupted by the infamous tug as the bond tightened between them. It seemed unnecessary when they were on the same planet again, another Force-forsaken ice planet, though he hoped this reunion would end differently than the last time he found her in the snow.

"Ben..." She was in darkness. He could feel the jagged edges of rocks cutting her hands and face as she grasped on to them.

No, not rocks...crystals. She's in the caves.

Her eyes were wide with fear. "Call them off!"

He slammed his fist against the control panel in agitation. "I can't! I have no command over them!"

"Yes, you do, you're the – "

"Not anymore!" he snapped. After realizing she wasn't the person he should be directing his temper, he swallowed his anger. "I... I am not the Supreme Leader."

"What?" She was being attacked by an army he could not control, but her voice was not angry, or fearful. It was full of hope. "Ben, did you leave?"

He didn't know why her words created an ache in his chest. "I couldn't stay. You were foolish enough to set down in the Order's largest crystal mine. They tried to kill you with their autocannons; I had to destroy them. I'm entering Ilum's atmosphere now."

She, irritatingly, was more focused on him leaving. "You left the First Order?"

"Yes!"

"For good?"

"Well, they don't take too kindly to defectors returning," he muttered. Her smile almost made the whole mess worth it.

What did make the mess worth it was the way she looked at him with happiness and pride. The warmth he felt from her over the bond could warm the coldest heart. "What do we do?"

He checked the radar. Hux had still not sent a single TIE after him. He must have had faith in his troops on the ground. Still, there was an uneasiness building inside him. What other weapons could Hux possess? "First let's find a way to get you out of there, now, before more troops arrive."

"Ben, I found my crystal. I can be a true Jedi!"

You never needed a crystal or ancient books or Luke to be a Jedi, Rey; I don't know why you can't see that.

"You'll have to show me when we get out of this," he said, pausing long enough to appreciate how the word "we" sounded. It was simple yet consequential; it spoke of an after. "But right now, we need to get you out of there."

"The Hutts are here to help us, too. I saw at least one ship; there could be more." He checked his radar. That was odd, he didn't see the presence of another ship. Something about it felt wrong to him.

If the Hutts were the informants, then does the rest of the Resistance know she's here?

"I'll keep an eye out for them," he said vaguely. "Start climbing. I'll fly low over the caves and take out as many of them as I can give you cover so you can get back to the Falcon."

There was still a hesitance in her energy. "I'm not leaving without my friends."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I know." He did know, and he would kill every last trooper in Hux's army if that was what it took to keep them all safe. They would all go to the Unknown Regions. Together. "Look, Rey, I think I know what Hux is planning, if something goes wrong–"

"Nothing will go wrong," she assured him. She hadn't stopped smiling, even as he panicked to formulate a plan. "You did it, Ben; everything will be okay."

He thought he would have struggled more with the implications of leaving his place of power in the organization he had believed in, but, then, he thought he would have struggled more with killing the creature he sacrificed everything for—and he did that without a second thought. It was surprisingly simple to give up the things he had thought were important to him when given the choice between them or her. He would always choose her.

But she was wrong; everything wouldn't be okay. The warning in the Force came too late. His eyes flashed from hers down to the empty radar screen. Impossible. She seemed to sense something was terribly wrong the instant he did. Her smile gave way to fear. "Ben?"

He had been so distracted by his panic and thoughts of her that he hadn't noticed the two other TIE fighters settle into attack formation behind him. By the time he sensed them, their weapons had fired. There was a split second of sickening realization when time crawled and the entire galaxy went silent. It was in that broken moment that he understood his fatal mistake.

No... this is impossible... the deflector shield...

He saw the bright flash before he heard the explosion. It was too late for heroics; their laser cannons had already done the necessary damage. The starboard wing exploded into a twisted ball of fire. He reached out instinctively, using the Force to hold the fighter together as best he could against the pressure of the atmosphere. The Silencer dove to the right and began a violent roll.

He couldn't see her anymore, but he could hear her screams.

"Ben!"