Within the Death Star wreckage, Rey felt very much at home as she clambered up shafts. Home, had Jakku ever really been her home? It felt so long ago now since she'd left; she didn't miss it. Unlike the ships she had scavenged in on Jakku, hot and dusty with grains of sand causing a dry, rusty creaking, the Death Star's interior was cold, salt-crusted and slick with a layer of damp water and algae covering all the surfaces. She was deftly climbing the leaning shaft in which she knew Darth Sidious had met his untimely end at the hand of his loyal servant. The vision she'd seen on Endor was drawing her upwards towards the scraps of metal that were the bridge over the shaft. At the end would be the throne room. The maintenance ladder she was scrambling up abruptly stopped just above her. She turned and leapt to the other side, clinging to a wrung on the metallic cylindrical tube. The tube was some sort of pipe, and having assessed the path up, she continued.
The throne room was only recognisable from the circular broken viewing window through which cold grey light shone. On the floor lay remnants of the space station- pipes, electrical tubes, metallic rubble beneath the window and the crumpled throne of Emperor Palpatine. A light sea breeze came through the broken viewing port; salty water carried upon the air. Rey could sense that essence present now, that hideous darkness, and she took a deep breath, remembering Master Luke's words, which seemed to be carried in the air.
"We've passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now, but this is your fight. The Force will be with you."
Rey walked cautiously towards the throne, igniting her lightsaber. Out of the shadows, Ben emerged, and relief flowed through her. He looked battle-weary and soaked with saltwater. Streaks of dirt ran across his face, and she sensed an unseen and significant injury to his person. She could also sense that as he had on StarKiller Base, he was using the burning pain to fuel himself. Neither of them spoke whatever had drawn them both here. Whatever they had come to face was here. Silently, she walked past Ben and further into the darkness; Ben watched her and then quietly followed. From the depths of the wreckage, a cackle reached Rey's ears, hideous and evil, sending an involuntary shudder down her spine.
"Long have I waited, and now your coming together will be your undoing."
Rey stopped and waited; Ben stood at her side, head high. He shrugged his cloak off and removed his lightsaber from his belt, igniting it, spinning it in his hand, and pointing it into the darkness. Rey squinted; were those red troopers she could see, or was it just the light from Ben's spitting weapon? A hooded form stood with six red stormtroopers. In the darkness, the red stormtroopers shot forward all at once. Rey raised her saber; she was ready, and she saw Ben ground his footing next to her. These stormtroopers were nothing like the Praetorian she and Ben had fought aboard the Supremacy. No ultra-sonic generator-enhanced weapons, no magnetic field in their armour. Cutting them down was easy, too easy. Blaster shots were deflected, and Rey speared one while utilising the Force to rain the blaster bolts back at another with terrifyingly deadly aim. Ben appeared to be in no mood to fight such worthless adversaries as he crushed the weapon as the trooper attempted to blast him, making the weapon a grenade in his hand that exploded in the trooper's masked face. Ben speared another trooper before kicking the body off with his foot and then spun to slash the back of another as the bodies clattered to the floor. Rey bent to duck out of the way of the final trooper's blaster, slashing at their legs before standing and slashing at them across the chest. The red armoured trooper slumped to the floor. Ben raised his saber and pointed it at the shrouded form of Letan Nex. Rey stood at his side before mimicking his stance like a mirror; they were ready.
The acolyte howled seemingly with glee at how easily his guards had been dispatched.
"Your power is quite spectacular; thanks to you both, I will be more powerful than ever. Let the final battle begin."
Lightning erupted from the shadow's outstretched arms, striking them both and throwing them into the darkness. Rey hit a piece of the Death Stars wreckage hard, pain lancing through her ribs. Ben had been subjected to this torment multiple times, and it was like no pain she'd ever felt. Unlike Snoke's probing of her mind a mental pain, this burned through her whole body. Her mind was full of searing light, and she felt unable to think or move. As she scrambled to all fours, Rey was surprised to see that her arms weren't on fire; her veins seemed to burn within her skin. She attempted to get back to her feet and finally, with some effort, stood. Having avoided being struck, Ben shielded himself from the lightning with his saber and attempted to fling debris from around the wreckage at the cackling form by utilising the Force.
Ben could make out Rey's form in the darkness beyond Sidious as she struggled to stand. Harnessing the Force, Ben ripped sheeting from the walls and threw all manner of debris scattered across the floor at his foe while holding back the lightning from striking him down; Nex, however, easily deflected it. He needed to get out of the line of fire or a momentary distraction. He extinguished his saber lent far back on his feet and threw a massive bulk of construction at the acolyte from behind him. He spun low on the ground, coming up close to the acolyte's cloaked form, close enough to see the burning yellow eyes and malformed face. He watched the lightning shatter the rock into dust as he kicked out at Nex's body, sending him flying back onto the floor. Ben ignited his saber once more, and before Nex could stand, he ran at him.
Usually, Rey would've been defiant, but instead, she breathed, stretched out with her feelings, calm, letting the Force flow. Ben was charging at the now standing figure before him who reached for their waist. Within the dimly lit space, two lightsabers ignited and suddenly, with inexplicable speed, the cloaked figure leapt into the air over Ben and landed between them, engaging them both with alarming pace and ferocity. Lightsaber clashed against lightsaber. The space in which they fought echoed with the hum, crash and hissing as the glowing weapons battled in their wielder's arms.
Rey felt immediately overwhelmed. Letan Nex may have looked fragile and weak, like an animated corpse, but the ability channelled through those thin limbs and the force with which his lightsaber crashed against hers was stupefying. Rey quickly realised that Ben had always held back, not just in training. She cried out as she was struck against the arm, and then the lightsaber that had been battling Ben spun and struck her across the abdomen, and she could smell singed fabric and burnt flesh. Rey held herself painfully; she had to keep going. Ben growled with renewed determination as he now tried to hold back both lightsabers and, reaching into the Force, flung another piece of wreckage at his opponent, who swatted it away as though it were but an insect.
Rey screamed as she charged at the shadow; her hate and pain were fueling her. Her lightsaber was met by Nex's, but she considered at that moment what Ben had taught her. She extinguished her saber, and Nex lost his footing, and now she sidestepped, reigniting and slicing through the transparent flesh of the arm outstretched towards her. The severed limb fell to the floor, still brandishing its weapon. The shadow howled in pain. The Sith had not changed, had not evolved. Sidious hadn't known it, but he'd been truly defeated the day his servant had thrown him from the bridge of this now-decimated space station. He couldn't comprehend his servant's love for his son. Now he had been blind to another servant, a boy who'd betrayed him again for love, the love of a Jedi, but she wasn't a Jedi, and his servant, this boy, wasn't a Sith. They were something else, something new; he'd thought they would be easily swayed and manipulated and that their combined power would resurrect him, but he realised now how wrong he'd been. The momentary howl of pain was enough for both the girl and Ben Solo to make a move the Sith could not counter, but it didn't stop him trying. He stopped them both, his creation and the Skywalker heir, where they stood lightsabers ready to offer a killing blow.
"I created you. You are my progeny, my will within the Force," the acolyte cried in a desperate attempt to change the course of the future it saw before it.
Despite its hold over her, Rey responded angrily, "That was your mistake. We are stronger together, and we will defeat you."
Nex smiled cruelly, "Then strike me down with all your hate!" he purred.
"No, Rey," Ben called, "do not give in to your hate."
Rey turned her head to him, letting his words wash over her. She stilled her thoughts, breathed deeply and stretched out with her feelings.
The Force will be with you. Always.
Nex watched the exchange seething with hatred, but unbeknownst to the grey Jedi, a wicked design had formed, and he relinquished his hold upon them. This body was no longer of use.
Calm an extension of the Force itself, Rey thrust her saber through the acolyte's chest as Ben lunged forward, spinning on his feet and sweeping his lightsaber high and across, severing the grotesque head from its body. For a moment, the frail, cloaked form stood before toppling forward.
Rey stood breathing hard from the exertion and allowed her eyes to close as she felt relief wash over her. It was over; Darth Sidious was gone, and as she had promised, she had not turned. A horrible sound from Ben made her eyes snap open. It was a hideous inhale as he fell to his knees on the hard floor. He knelt before her, his breathing severe like he was choking, growling with exertion, his head lowered, his hair covering his face from her view.
"Ben!" Rey exclaimed as she rushed to him.
He held a hand out to her palm up, not forcing her to stop but suggesting that she should, and she did.
"Ben?" Rey questioned this time as she cautiously stepped forward.
He raised his head and growled at her, "Stay back!"
Beneath the damp, dark hair, Ben's eyes burned, not with his usual intensity of need and hunger but literally. His eyes were red and burning, his pupils yellow and red-rimmed fire. They weren't Ben's eyes at all. Rey covered her mouth with her free hand to mask the shocked noise that escaped them, but she failed. Ben roared again as he attempted her bring his lightsaber to his chest, but his arm shot out, and his lightsaber flew into the darkness beyond. He growled again, a mixture of effort and pain, attempting to hold the essence of Palpatine at bay. Rey dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Fight him, Ben, you must fight him."
Ben looked at her with those fiery red eyes full of anguish, and he managed to mutter, "Kill me," through gritted teeth and haggard breath.
Had she heard him correctly? She shook her head at him, no, no, she can't have.
"Kill me," his expression was pleading, his hands clenched into fists through internal effort, his words barely escaping his tense jaw and barred teeth. "Please."
"No. No, do not ask me to do this. I cannot!" Rey cried at him.
Shakily, he reached a hand out to her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry that it's you, that it has to be you. It's OK." Ben nodded assuringly as he held her by the shoulder and placed her hand holding her saber against his chest. He began to visibly shake as he internally fought to control his body physically. A tear rolled down her cheek as Rey placed her free hand on his jaw as she looked into his face. Her emotions overwhelmed her as she tried to compose herself and looked back at him as he spoke again.
"It's OK. It's alright. Do it. Please."
Rey leaned forward, closing the gap between them as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. She ignited the lightsaber. She felt Ben inhale and opened her eyes slightly to see the blue light of her lightsaber protruding from Ben's back. She extinguished her blade and threw her weapon aside. Ben's burning eyes had disappeared; his hauntingly lonely ones had returned as he slumped forward into her arms. She attempted to hold onto him; he was heavy, and his weight on her began to increase as his breathing faltered.
"Thank you," he murmured against her shoulder.
Rey began to cry freely, "Hold on, Ben; I'm going to save you."
She got an arm under him and awkwardly lowered him into her lap. His hand reached for her face, resting upon her cheek, and she nestled into his palm.
"You.. already.. did," he sighed as his breathing became shallower.
"No, no, please. Please don't leave me."
"I..I love you," Ben struggled to say.
Rey tried to fight back her tears as they flowed, to fight what was seemingly inevitable.
"I know," she bent to kiss him again. She felt him sigh into her mouth as her lips caressed his. When she pulled back, he was still, his chest no longer rising and falling, his eyes closed. She shook him in her arms.
"No. No! Ben!"
A hideous cackle reverberated through the dark. Sidious' final act of vengeance. His essence was defeated, but his last act had forced her hand to do that which she'd vowed she wouldn't: to kill Ben Solo.