Force connections

A rescue

We both cried for a long time sat there, our faces buried in each other's shoulders.  My heart physically ached at the thought of her leaving without me but no matter how much I turned different scenarios over in my mind I couldn't see any other way out of this.

Finally we lay down, our faces inches apart, our eyes shut, neither one of us sleeping, just absorbing quietly what time we had left together until finally we lost the battle, our hungry, exhausted bodies giving in to sleep.

The sound of blaster fire shocked me awake. My eyes flying open and resting on Reys.  We both stared at each other for a moment and then struggled into a seated position.  Shouting and then the noise of the access panel next to the cell door being blown open.  When the door slid aside two stormtroopers were stood there, blasters in their hands.  Rey stumbled backwards against me and we watched as the stormtroopers removed their helmets.  It was Finn and Poe.  "Rey, come on!" Poe shouted pulling her towards him.  "No."  I turned to look at Rey then.  She was stood tall despite the hand cuffs and her sweet tear stained face was serious.  "What?" Finn and Poe both said in unison, "I'm not leaving without Ben".  I stepped forwards then, "Rey, don't do this, you have to go, I can't come with you ", Rey turned to me, rushing against me, her face pressing into my chest, "I love you Ben " she said between sobs. I lowered my head so that it was resting on hers and I felt a tear fall from my eye, "I love you too Rey" I said my voice breaking.  "Rey come on, he's right" Finn said more softly now and when I lifted my damp eyes to look at him I was surprised to see that they were now filled with compassion. Rey shook her head but allowed Finn to pull her, still handcuffed away from me"Go, I'll be fine" I lied.  The sound of raised voices and Poe leant out of the cell, firing his blaster at an unseen foe, "We have to go!" he shouted and I watched as Rey was dragged from the cell, all the while her eyes on mine, tears streaming down her cheeks.  There was no more shouting then, just the sound of footsteps moving away from me and then silence.  I slumped down to the floor, hung my head and cried.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there for, lost in my grief at losing Rey, before it occurred to me that I didn't have to stay here, I could try to escape too, fly somewhere and hide alone. The thought of being alone again scared me but not nearly as much as being alone here. And then my mind went to Rey again. If I stayed a prisoner here in this cell then she wouldn't be able to connect with me, this cell was after all designed to stop all use of the force. That thought alone spurred me into action. Pushing against the wall I managed to struggle to my feet. I looked out of the open cell door. The corridor ahead was littered with bodies of stormtroopers. I headed down the corridor, continually testing whether I could use the force yet to break free of the cuffs but to no avail. I finally reached the door out of the cells. I took a deep breath and leant out a fraction, seeing another long hallway and more troopers bodies. As I stepped into the hallway I tried using the force again and this time the cuffs fell off easily. I rubbed my wrists and bent to pick up a blaster, holding it at my side as I edged down the corridor. I knew where I was now and I quickly headed in the direction of the hanger, ducking into doorways now and then as footsteps approached, feeling suddenly sad at the thought that Rey had to hide like this once when she had escaped me on Star Killer base.

I was hidden behind some pipe work now, just outside the hanger and I could hear Hux talking, his voice shrill "They took my ship! What do I train you for? Find me Kylo Ren! I don't believe he's with them, he wouldn't put the girl at risk. If you find him, kill him on sight", "Yes General" Came a Troopers voice. I stood completely still, fearing the loud beating of my heart would give me away but revelling in his words, they took a ship, that meant they had gotten away. A moment later the troopers and Hux left and I slipped out from behind the pipes and looked cautiously into the hanger. A lot of damage had been sustained there, no doubt caused by the resistance. Two Tie fighters were anchored just in front of me. Perfect. I looked around, one Tie pilot was stood near them. I lifted my hand and held it out towards him, "You will unhook the Tie fighter and give me blaster cover if I should need it".  For a moment he looked blankly in my direction, his expression hidden under his helmet and then he walked over to the Tie fighter, unhooking it and then standing with his blaster raised.  I looked around.  The hanger was deserted apart from the solitary pilot.  I ran across and climbed into the Tie fighter, strapping myself in and hitting the ignition. In the next moment I was lifting up into the air and speeding away from the hanger. My eyes kept flickering down to my radar, barely believing that it had been that easy.

Suddenly a shape appeared on the radar, approaching me at speed, and then another two. I knew what they were, they were Tie fighters and they were after me. Cursing I dipped down low, hoping to throw them with the sudden change of position but they followed easily, opening fire. I swerved the shots with relative ease. My father, Han Solo had taught me to fly from a young age. I would fly whatever ship he had when he would return to my mother and me after months of being away. The memory made my stomach twist, I had hated him for leaving us. Resented the fact that he would rather be out getting whatever he could than being with his wife and child. Another burst of shots . I had to get some cover. Suddenly a range of shapes appeared on my radar. An asteroid field! I sped up, heading straight into the tumbling mass of rocks, knowing that only very skilled pilots would make it through. Almost immediately one of the Tie fighters exploded in a ball of flames whilst the other two opened fire again. I dodged the fire, and the rocks and then suddenly swung around to my right. One of the fighters, surprised by my move wizzed past me and I easily dispatched it. One left and this one seemed the most skilled. A shot clipped my wing, making me spin upside down. I righted myself just as the last fighter smashed into me from the side. I looked across at him, seeing the faceless mask look back and then I rammed him, our fighters colliding. We carried on this tussle as he relentlessly pursued me. As he flew alongside me again, readying himself to ram me I saw my chance and braked sharply, causing him to fly past me, his head turning to look at me. I shot at him, directly hitting his left hand wing, causing him to spin straight into one of the huge rocks of the asteroid field and burst into flames. I had done it.

Now where to? I studied the navigational maps and stopped. There was one place I really didn't want to revisit but one place I knew I could hide at, Crait.