Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 20: Darkness

Ren rose stiffly from the floor as Alwick and Freen watched from the wall adjacent to him.

Alwick dropped a hand from his mouth. "I take it that didn't go well?" he nervously questioned. Ren answered with a slight shake of the head as he held out a black gloved hand and Alwick obliged by handing him his cloak in response. Ren fastened it to the clasps on each shoulder.

"The Emperor is already eroding her fervent association to the light" Freen concluded. "Obviously we only heard your side of the conversation, but I couldn't help but notice she may not have been altogether...hmm, receptive."

"Correct" Ren confirmed as he clipped the hilt of his lightsaber on the belt around his waist. 

"Are you finished your lover's quarrel or what!?" Vurdan's voice bellowed from the co-pilot chair at the head of their ship. The unmistakable sound of Tyrus' muffled laugh into his own forearm followed immediately. 

Ren cocked an eyebrow in their direction, hiding an amused smile at their casual teasing. "How much farther?" he asked as he approached their seats in hopes of changing the subject.

"Almost there actually. Less than eight clicks" Vurdan answered, leaning forward to scan the navigational readout.

"I'd really like to know what that is" Freen stood at his shoulder, pointing out of the window. As they approached the target location, the sun was glinting off an object in the sand, surrounded by smaller pieces of metal debris. 

"I'm going to try and land her just east of it where it's clear" Tyrus advised as he eased off the thruster propulsion.

"Wait" Alwick interrupted, "what's that on the slope?"

Speeder tracks had engraved the sand up a long dune to the debris, but one was lying on it's side on the incline, sunken partially into the ground and engulfed in orange flames and black smoke.

"Gas cavities must be underneath this area" Vurdan speculated as he gestured to Tyrus. "Don't land yet. The ship will explode if we nick any of the pockets around here." The ship was steered around to prepare for another pass on the area.

A disturbance in the force coursed through Ren at that moment and he stepped forward between the pilot chairs to peer out of the window. A figure in black robes with red hair emerged from behind the metal debris to stand looking up at the sky as they passed over.

Tyrus turned to Ren, his cerulean eyes conveyed concern. "Where's the girl?" he asked.

Rey? He called out through the force, hoping to catch her end of the connection again, but was met with no answer; the line was cold.

"Get me down there" Ren ordered urgently. 

Vurdan shrugged his shoulders, "I can get you as close to the debris as possible...there doesn't seem to be any pockets around it or it wouldn't still be there." Before he could say anything else, the ship lurched violently as something made impact to the hull, throwing Ren and the two standing knights against the frame of the cockpit. 

"It's Ozir" Freen shouted. "I can sense him."

A sleek, black ship flew past the porthole, screeching as it accelerated away from them. 

Tyrus tipped the nose down toward the ground. "I can get low for this final pass before he takes aim at us again...if you're feeling lucky" he looked over hesitantly as if waiting for an answer.

Ren didn't waste a second to give him one before turning sharply and taking long strides to the ship's interior door. As he reached it, the exterior hatch was heard moving to the open position as the ship dipped down. When the exterior hatch completed its sequence, the interior door began to open; bright sunlight poured in as the wind started howling against the frame.