Bonded

Chapter 2: First Blood

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Rey and Chewie receive unexpected visitors while scavenging for supplies.

The sound of blaster fire fills the hanger.

Rey's crouched next to Chewie behind a crude barricade, stacks of miscellaneous junk that's been gathering dust for decades in this abandoned rebel base.

The equipment here is so out of date it's barely functional. But these days, the Resistance takes what they can get...

After Crait, they had to get creative. Desperate for supplies, the General sent out small crews to old rebel bases to scavenge for anything that could be useful, a task for which Rey is particularly well-suited.

They have what they came for. The Falcon's packed with odds and ends she and Chewie collected over the past couple days. They were just getting ready to leave when a unit of Stormtroopers burst into the hanger.

The Falcon isn't far behind. They need to make a run for it.

There are about twenty troopers, less now that she and Chewie took some of them out. But aerial reinforcements can't be far...

They need to get out of here. Now.

If they both race to the ship, they'll be riddled with blaster fire before they get halfway there. But if one of them runs for it while the other distracts the troopers...

"Chewie, go!" Rey nods towards the Falcon.

Chewie baws in protest.

"GO!" She repeats. "If one of us doesn't get out now, neither of us will."

Chewie baws again, refusing to leave.

"I'm not going to die. I'll distract them long enough for you to take off, then I'll fight my way out and call you." She touches her commlink at her side.

He cocks his head, doubtful.

Rey rolls her eyes.

"We don't have time for this. GO!" She reaches for the lightsaber attached at her hip.

This one isn't Luke's. It's green and double-sided. Maz got it for her. It doesn't feel quite right, but it's better than nothing.

She ignites the weapon and leaps over the barricade, immediately Force-pulling a stack of crates onto a group of troopers. Rey lunges towards the others, lightsaber twirling around her, easily deflecting a barrage of blaster fire.

It's strange... this feeling, moving so quickly but perceiving everything as though it were slowed. She can sense every action before it happens. She knows where every plasma shot will land before it even leaves the blaster.

She strikes an attacker across the shoulder, another across the thigh, then somersaults high in the air, landing atop of a towering stack of crates. She instantly jumps off, Force-pushing the crates onto the troopers before she hits the ground. She waves a hand, tossing the crates across the hanger, knocking down troopers who just managed to stand.

The Falcon jets out of the hanger as she charges forward, deflecting blaster fire and slashing at the limbs of attackers. She flips and somersaults, tucks and rolls, dives and sidesteps, moving so fast she seems to be in two places at once. The troopers surround her and yet they can't touch her. She's too quick, too good at dodging— they just can't pin her down.

She Force-calls the blasters out of the hands of two troopers, smashing them against the wall. She kicks a crate into three more, throwing them off balance. She begins to lunge forward but suddenly stops cold.