I touched darkness

Chapter thirty-three

"Leaders of The Resistance, I come to you with some interesting information in hopes that you have some more clues to add to our investigation." Her voice boomed through the room and her confidence could easily be heard. Although inside, she felt slightly nervous being in a room with a bunch of strangers, she wasn't going to let them intimidate her. "An entire system, an ally to The First Order, disappeared a few days ago. There are no signs of the system, it simply disappeared. If you have any information, any at all, please respond to our transmission. May the Force be with you."

The officer in charge of starting and ending the transmission swiftly pressed a button, ending the transmission. Nodding in dismissal, Rey left the room, her hand still clung to her lightsaber as she walked out of the room.

Surprisingly, all was quiet when she walked out. There weren't any stormtroopers, which meant she was alone. She started walking in the direction of her quarters.

Rey.

She turned around. She looked around the corridor, once, twice, a third time. Nothing. She could hear her heart pounding inside her chest. She could've sworn she heard a voice right behind her. Realizing how it must've been simply the wind from a nearby vent or her mind playing tricks on her, she continued walking.

Possibly a minute went by, there still wasn't anyone in the corridors, only herself. Her heart began to slow its pace.

Rey.

She turned her head with extreme speed. Her heart picked up the pace it had acquired earlier, if not faster.

"What do you want?" She asked, addressing whoever was the owner to that voice. Silence was all she got in return. "Who are you?" Still nothing. "If you have nothing to say, stop saying my name and leave me alone."

Her fingers were still holding her lightsaber. She quickly looked down and saw how white her knuckles had become, yet she didn't loosen her grip.

She continued to walk. Her heart raced.

Rey!

The voice was louder and held so much more confidence. In one swift motion, both yellow blades, accompanied by a hum struck out of her hilt.

"Who are you?" Her voice was somewhat shaky, but held a lot of power.

Silence. There still wasn't anyone in the corridor. She looked over her shoulder practically a hundred times, yet the corridor was completely deserted.

A beep came from the com on her wrist. She had practically forgotten it was there. She answered the call.

"Empress Palpatine, we have received an answer to your transmission."

"I'll be right there," she answered.

Another beep was heard, meaning the call had ended. She retracted her lightsaber and attached it back to her belt. She then made her way back to the room she was just in. She surprisingly didn't hear a voice, but her guard was up. She entered the room.

"Play the transmission," she said, not waiting a second longer.

"Yes, ma'am," one of the officers in charge responded.

The familiar face of an old friend came up. Finn.

"Rey. We may have some information that could be used, but we can't send it to you through transmissions. It's simply too dangerous. We would like to set up a meeting with your leaders. May the Force be with you."

The blue silhouette disappeared back into the transmitter.

~/~/~

Rey made her way back to her quarters without hearing a voice. She was on edge the entire way back and her fingers tightly gripped onto her . The meeting was set up for the next morning. Rey would be attending it and Ben would be staying back at the quarters with the twins.

She sat down in her chair, the same one she had sat in so long ago and waited for the meeting to begin.

Not long after, the Speaker stood up to deliver his message.

"Attention," his voice boomed.

All of the room's occupants stopped talking.

"It has been brought to our attention that The Resistance may have some important information for us, but we would have to schedule a meeting for this exchange. Do we have any thoughts on this matter?"

Rey stood up.

"We should schedule a meeting. This information could give us what we need to end this mysterious set of events."

General Hux stood up quickly.

"This is obviously a trap!"

"General Hux, you were not given permission to speak. Please sit down."

General Hux glared at Rey before finally sitting down.

"General Hux, may I remind you that we signed a peace treaty with The Resistance. This could help The First Order grow and not have to financially spend countless amounts of credits to start a war."

Hux rolled his eyes at her. She had never been a fan of him and by his actions, it was incredibly clear he wasn't either.

"Speaker, may I speak?" General Hux asked, waiting a second after Rey had stopped.

"Yes, General, you may speak."

Hux stood up and Rey sat back down.

"Even if we did sign a peace treaty with The Resistance, who is the cause of all these actions? There isn't a big enough organization to be the cause of an entire system disappearing. I say we don't have this meeting and end this peace treaty, since there isn't anyone else who could be the cause."

Hux sat back down.

"Does anyone else have anything to say on this matter?" The Speaker asked. When no one replied after some time, The Speaker spoke again. "We will now proceed to a vote. Please vote on the panels that will pop up in a moment."

On cue, a panel popped up on a the table at each seat. Several minutes later, The Speaker rose from his seat to announce the results.

"The winner of this vote is Emperess Palpatine. We will arranging the details shortly. You're all dismissed," he turned towards Rey. "Could you stay slightly longer Empress, so we can discuss the details."

She nodded. Everyone stood up and departed from the room, as she and The Speaker stayed seated.

Rey.

There the voice was again.