Star Wars VII - Revised and Redacted

Chapter 19: Duel

Rey did her best to block Kylo's attacks, but a one handed sword was not her weapon of choice, so her combat style was off, causing her to stumble when his blade struck powerfully against hers over and over again. She tried counterattacking with a pair over overhead chops, but Kylo easily blocked them, following up with a pair of diagonal cuts Rey barely countered in time. The impacts alone drove her to the ground.

As Rey collapsed on her back in the snow, Kylo turned, calmly walking several paces away as if unconcerned. Rey got back to her feet and rushed him, but Kylo spun around at precisely the right moment to counter her. She swung hard and fast, however, Kylo barely moved at all, using small flicks of his wrist to spin his weapon one way or the other and casually bat aside all of her attacks.

"You're not even trying," Rey said, breathing hard.

"You aren't either," Kylo replied. He lunged ahead and intensified his attacks many times, one sword swing blending flawlessly into the next in an unbroken sequence that quickly overwhelmed her ability to counter.

Backing up, Rey ran into a tree and was unable to avoid it when Kylo pinned his blade up against her own, inches from her chest and face. Rather than pushing against her lightsaber in an attempt to break her guard, Kylo twisted his wrist and allowed the venting energy from his own weapon to burn Rey's shoulder. She screamed in pain, and the momentary distraction was all Kylo needed. Stepping back, he brought his lightsaber up and around before hammering straight down on her blade, knocking it from her hands. As Rey was staggered by the intensity of the attack, Kylo reversed directions, swinging his weapon back up and slicing her from hip to shoulder along her spine.

Rey collapsed face down in the snow. Shutting off his lightsaber and returning it to his belt, Kylo knelt beside Rey's still form. He reached out with a gloved hand, hovering it above her back. As he channeled the Force through her, the burned flesh healed at an extremely accelerated rate until her wound had disappeared entirely. She regained consciousness, rolling over to find Kylo still kneeling beside her.

"Why did you heal me?" Rey questioned in confusion.

"As I said," Kylo reminded, "we have unfinished business."

   ***   

The Republic cruisers entered firing range on the cannon and began targeting every system and interior surface they could in order to cause the most damage possible. Y-wing bombers sailed straight down the barrel of the massive cannon, firing missiles and torpedoes to add to the destruction. Although the amount of firepower was considerable, the colossal size of the cannon limited the effectiveness of the Republic's attack.

As the Republic fighters continued to provide cover, they lost two more ships. The TIE fighters being launched at almost a continuous rate from Starkiller base were starting to gain the advantage through sheer weight of numbers.

"We're not causing enough damage," one of the bomber pilots reported.

"The cannon is preparing to fire," Admiral Akbar warned. "All craft prepare to retreat."

"Enough of this," Poe said, putting his X-wing into a dive and abandoning his orbital battle with the TIE fighters. "I'm going in, give me some cover."

"Roger that, Poe," one of his wingmates answered. "We're on it."

TIE fighters tried to intercept Poe as he plunged toward the cannon, but the Republic craft shot them down or distracted them, allowing Poe to vanish down into the cannon itself and far deeper than any of the other ships had gone. Firing nearly constantly, Poe strafed the entire length of the cannon from one end to the other. He destroyed power relays and focusing arrays. When he reached the base of the cannon, deep within the planet, it was glowing an ominous red as the solar energy was nearly ready to be unleashed. Poe fired all the torpedoes he had left in rapid succession anddamaged every one of the emitters. 

Turning sharply around, Poe pushed his throttle to maximum as the overload began to consume the cannon. Energy conduits for processing the solar radiation in a controlled manner exploded, showering his X-wing with debris.

"The cannon's damaged," Poe reported.

"The base won't be able to handle the stored energy for long before it destroys the planet," Admiral Akbar reminded over the communication channel. "All ships, move to a safe distance."

   ***   

"Concentrate," Kylo instructed. "Just as you felt the Force and used it to take the lightsaber from me, use it now."

Kylo slowly spun his weapon around, its energy crackling and humming through the air. "Feel the power flow through your arms, granting you strength, quickening your reflexes, and increasing your power."

Rey picked up her lightsaber and switched it on. She moved in on Kylo again with a forward thrust of her weapon, but he knocked it aside without trouble. Rey was driven back into a narrow canyon as Kylo launched into another series of left and right swings. She eventually abandoned facing him directly. Running away at full speed, she climbed the jutting rocks of the canyon wall, barely dodging Kylo's swings that carved out sections of stone with bursts of white hot sparks.

Leaping from one rock wall to another, Rey dropped into a shoulder roll and landed on the upper ridge of the canyon. Kylo used the Force and jumped up to follow immediately behind her.

"You're only reacting," Kylo criticized. "You're not letting the Force flow through you."

She turned around for a moment, blocking a strike at her shoulder. A dead tree had fallen against a nearby trunk, and when she pushed back Kylo's lightsaber temporarily, she used her opportunity to cut through the fallen tree, slicing it in half and forcing Kylo to dodge out of the way of its falling pieces.

"Better, but not enough," Kylo dismissed. He moved his blade in a horizontal figure eight, slashing diagonally at her from the left and right.

She ducked behind a tree, but he cut it down with a single swing, and his free hand gestured and caused an invisible blast to easily toss the upper half of the trunk aside.

"You still need instruction," Kylo told her. "I can guide you and help you unlock the power of the Force."

"I've seen how you use the Force," Rey answered. "I'm not going to be your student, and I'll never help the First Order."

"If you will not join me, you will have to die," Kylo replied coldly. Raising his blade in front of him, Kylo began his assault anew.