Amid BB-8's squeals and C-3PO's repeated cries of "Serpent!", the group shuffled back and closed ranks, weapons raised and primed.
The creature rose above their height, hissing and spitting. Its six eyes, black and beady, blinked in unison. Ivory teeth glinted in torchlight and dripped with venom. From the shadows engulfing its body, it was hard to discern how large it was; but it was certainly large enough to incapacitate any of them if it attacked.
Nova, Finn and Poe stood tight together, forming a wall, expressions a spectrum of hardened nerves as they stared the creature down. Chewie stood behind them as the second line with his bowcaster, letting the droids cower behind his large frame.
Nova did her best to keep her stoic mask from crumbling in the face of the serpent. Jaw clenched, eyes cold and breathing deathly controlled. She forced herself to swallow. Her knuckles turned white around her blaster.
She was not usually one for trivial fears – unless that trivial fear involved serpents.
Rey was the one to remain collected, watching the creature with a calm concentration. She could sense it – the pain driving it to aggression. She felt drawn to it somehow, handing her lightsaber off and stepping closer over its coils.
Nova took the lightsaber from her friend, body shifting into a stance well-practiced, though not used in many years. It was not even a conscious thing to her in the moment, just instinct as she held the weapon across her body, ready to act at the drop of a credit.
The serpent hissed again as Rey made her approach, but she remained resolute. She kept watch on its movements, reacting accordingly to show she meant no harm. It seemed she was bonded to it, whether through the Force or intuition.
"Finn..." Poe began nervously.
"Shh," Finn said.
In the low light, Rey found the source of the aggression – a gaping, raw injury carved into the creature's body.
"I'm gonna blast it," Poe said, tightening his grip on his blaster.
"Wait!" Nova hissed.
Crouching, Rey placed her hand over the serpent's wound, then became still. Her breathing softened.
The serpent hissed again, though no longer with malice. It blinked slowly, lowering its head closer to the Jedi in a signal of trust. The pain remedied and aggression soothed, it uncoiled itself and slithered away back into the maze of tunnels it called home.
A collective sigh of relief was shared, and daylight stung their eyes – the serpent's movements having revealed an exit back to the desert above.
BB-8 moved to Rey, beeping an inquiry.
"I just transferred a bit of life," she explained kindly. "Force energy from me to him."
The droid beeped again.
"You would have done the same."
Behind them, Chewie bent down to retrieve the dagger from the sand. He examined it briefly before stuffing it in his bag, and followed Finn's lead out of the tunnels.
Nova faltered, turning to find Poe staring at her, an unnerved wonder in his eyes. She frowned, a silent ask as to what had caught him off-guard about her.
"Sorry, it's just..." he nodded to the lightsaber still gripped by her hands. "You've mentioned it, but... I just never imagined you using one of those things..."
"Yeah, well don't get used to it." A wave of nausea pushed itself through her as she saw the old weapon in her hands, felt the familiar weight and ache from her stance. Disengaging it, she unceremoniously shoved it back into Rey's hands in her hasty path to the exit.
Poe caught up to her on the surface, and together they took the lead of the group heading for Ochi's ship, abandoned on the rocks. His voice was quiet when he spoke. "You alright? You seemed kinda spooked back there."
Nova's hands occupied themselves with adjusting her rapidly unravelling updo, carding her fingers through the longer strands before pulling it back tight. "Yeah, just... ugh."
She shivered and grumbled, moving to fix her shirt and free what parts of the desert had joined her within her clothes.
Poe chuckled, choosing a more light-hearted track of conversation to distract from what she clearly was not in the mood to talk about. "Never thought I'd see the day you complain about your looks."
She stopped and glared at him. "I don't. Like. Sand."
"No desert planets, got it," he muttered to himself.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The group caught up to itself as they reached the rocks and began the slow and careful climb, having to take time to manoeuvre the droids over the uneven ground.
"We cannot possibly fly in that old wreck," C-3PO said in his usual indignant fashion.
"We keep moving," Nova said. "We gotta find a way to translate that dagger."
"Like a helpful droid," Poe added.
"I suggest we return to the Millennium Falcon at once," C-3PO persisted.
"They'll be waiting for us at the Falcon," Nova pointed out, much as it pained her to do.
She never stopped considering it her father's ship, despite everyone wanting to treat it as though it was now hers. At times, it still felt like home. But it was not hers anymore – it had not been for a long time. She felt no claim to that legacy.
"Yeah," Finn agreed. "They'll throw us in the Pits of Griq."
"And use you as a target droid," Poe finished.
"You all make excellent points," the droid relented. "At times."
They set about moving to the next layer of rock, with Finn assisting both Poe and Nova in getting up with little trouble. When they turned back to Rey, she had paused, looking out at the vast expanse of desert.
Finn moved to her side. "What is it?"
"I'll be right behind you," she assured softly, unshouldering her back and staff and handing them to her friend, before heading back down the way they had come without another word.
Nova frowned. "What's that about?"
"Don't know," Finn said.
---
The ramp hydraulics groaned and creaked, dropping a thick layer of desert dust as it lowered.
The inside of Ochi's ship looked even older than the outside – it was a wonder it had not been stripped for parts years ago, but had instead been allowed to collect dust blankets and cobweb curtains undisturbed. Unlike most desert planets, Pasaana did not have an economy that was pushed to thrive on scavenging and junk trading.
"Let's see what we've got," Poe said, locating the lever that brought the ship to life with a sharp tug, followed by a gentle hum. "Let's get those converters fired up."
Nova brushed her way through the webs to the cockpit, finding it in the same state as the rest of the ship. She coughed through the dust as she flicked the screen open and began to toggle the console to life. "Is this thing even gonna reach atmosphere?"
"Let's hope," Poe muttered, managing a little more optimism as he stepped around her.
Finn loitered in the doorway, looking out through the shutters every now and then and muttering. "Where is she?"
"Finn, help us out over here," Nova said. She suddenly felt anxious to leave.
"Chewie, tell Rey we gotta go."
The Wookiee nodded, grabbed his things and headed back down the ramp.
With help from BB-8, and unhelpful background complaints from C-3PO about the state of the ship, they were able to coax a more confident sound from the engines.
Poe and Nova took the pilot and co-pilot chairs respectively, the latter too busy with the controls to look out the viewport at Rey.
The Jedi had come to a stop. Facing away, staring off into the supposedly empty desert.
"What is she doing?" Poe muttered. "Where the hell's Chewie?"
Then Nova felt it. The darkness, barrelling towards them through the canyons. Accompanying it, the distant but unmistakable scream of a TIE fighter engine.
Finn had realised it too – the only thing it could be.
"It's Ren," he breathed, turning and running back down the ramp.
Nova tensed, fists unconsciously clenching against the chair turning her knuckles white. Her brown eyes stayed locked open and focused on Rey. Waiting as she was.
Poe reached for her hand, carefully threading his fingers through hers and giving a squeeze. The only comfort he could hope to offer her in the moment.
She returned the gesture – her simple way of telling him she was okay. Or as okay as she could be.
Below, Rey ignited her lightsaber, watching the TIE fighter as it screeched into view. Waiting. Then, she took off running the opposite way to the ship, though she was not fast enough to outrun it – that was not her plan.
Just as the ship was about to run her down, she jumped into a backflip, cleanly propelling herself over it and allowing the sabre to sever the wing. She landed in a cloud of dust, looking up to watch the fighter crash and burn as the mechanisms malfunctioned from her attack.
Nova leapt from her seat to get a better view. A sharp intake of breath stung her chest.
Poe glanced warily between her and the scene.
The boom of an engine came from somewhere below them, and a First Order transport made itself known to them right as Finn reached Rey out in the desert.
Looking up at the retreating ship, the Jedi did not hesitate to act. Reaching her hand out, she ensnared it with the Force, straining to hold it in place and pull it back to the surface.
From the smoking remains of his TIE fighter emerged Kylo Ren, striding towards Rey through the heat. Mask in hand, black cloak catching a breeze. Noticing what she was doing, he too reached out through the Force, though he was pushing.
The ship groaned as it became trapped between two states – never quite rising or falling.
The power and strain from both Force wielders was tangible in the humid air.
Then, the clouds burst.
Jagged, blue lightning shot out of Rey's fingers, striking the transport ship in the belly, tearing it apart violently. It came crashing down in a mess of broken metal and flames, separating her from the enemy.
A scream tore itself from Nova's throat, muffled by Poe's hand as he reflexively slammed it over her mouth.
The vision flashed in her mind – the darkness, the cold, the lightning.
The death.
She collapsed into her seat, eyes wide and breathing erratic.
Poe gripped her shoulder, crouching down beside her as he tried to calm her.
He cursed under his breath when the sound of TIE fighter engines reached his ears – they were about to be in a lot more trouble if they did not get off Pasaana soon.
"I'll be back," he said, planting a soft and quick kiss to her temple before leaving her to dash out into the desert to urge the others back.
Nova swallowed harshly.
---
The ship sat in space quietly, concealed by an asteroid belt.
The group sat around in silence, trying to collect their thoughts on what they had seen. What they had done.
They had lost Chewie in the transport explosion.
Nova still could not quite believe it. Chewie had always been there ever since she was a little girl. It felt strange to say he was gone.
It did not enter her mind to blame Rey.
She tried not to think about it at all. Tried to ignore the surge or dark power flashing through her mind whenever she would blink.
"We've only got eight hours left," Poe informed, marching out of the cockpit. "So, what are we gonna do?"
"What can we do? We've gotta go back to base," Finn said, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.
"We don't have time to go back. We are not giving up," Poe protested. "If we do that, Chewie died for nothing."
"Poe, Chewie had the dagger!"
"Well, we've gotta find another way."
"Well, there isn't! That was our only clue to the wayfinder-thing and it's gone!"
"So true," C-3PO said remorsefully. "The inscription lives only in my memory now."
The quartet turned to look at him; Finn and Poe pinned him with glares.
"Hold on. The inscription that was on the dagger is in your memory?" Poe asked.
"Yes, Master Poe," the droid said. "But the translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is short of a complete redacted memory bypass."
Finn frowned. "A complete what?"
"It's a terribly dangerous and sinful act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals."
"Let's do that!"
C-3PO turned to him in indignation.
"I know a black market droidsmith," Poe muttered.
"Black market droidsmith?" the droid echoed in horror.
"But he's on Kijimi."
"Kijimi?" Nova said incredulously.
Finn looked between them. "What's wrong with Kijimi?"
"I had a little bad luck on Kijimi."
Nova raised an eyebrow, keeping a wary eye on her partner, noting his avoidance of the question. Which given the subject matter, she was anxious for an explanation.
"But if this mission fails, it's all been for nothing," the pilot sighed. "All we've done, all this time..."
Finn rose to his feet, looking to the girls. "We're all in this, 'til the end."
Nova followed his lead in silence.
"For Chewie," Rey said softly, doing the same as her friends.
Finn nodded, taking Nova's hand, then extended the other to Poe.
He raised an eyebrow at him. "Hands?"
"Hands," the other man said firmly.
Poe conceded. "For Chewie."
C-3PO shuffled forward too, taking Poe's hand – much to his discomfort.
"Kijimi," he decided, dropping the hands he held and heading back to the cockpit to chart their heading.
Nova gave Rey's hand a reassuring squeeze before following.
"Mistress Nova, I really must protest –" C-3PO started.
"I know you must, Threepio," she sighed.
Poe ignored her when she entered the cockpit.
"You gonna tell me what you were doing on Kijimi?" she asked, leaning against his seat.
He continued to avoid her gaze. "It doesn't matter."
A noticeably uncomfortable silence followed.
Nova sighed again, deciding to return to Rey instead.
The Jedi sat alone, staring at her hands, deep in her own thoughts. She gave Nova a sorrowful look as she joined her, prompting the older woman to wrap an arm around her, letting her rest her head on her shoulder.
BB-8 warbled to them as he appeared, accompanied by another droid – smaller than he was, painted white and green.
"H-hello," it greeted, looking up at them inquisitively. Its body consisted of a single wheel – a rather squeaky one in need to some maintenance – a cone shaped head.
It reminded Nova of some small, knitted creatures she would watch in a children's holo-show when she was very young.
"Hello," Rey greeted softly, stretching out a hand towards it.
It quickly retreated. "No-no thank you."
She respected its wishes, retracting her hand. "Looks like someone treated it badly."
Turning to their new companion, she smiled kindly. "It's alright. You're with us now."