To the Far Reaches

Soar

I feel weakened, my powers are not as strong as I suspected them to be. My attempts to bridge with Rey were failing. Snoke had done it, Palpatine as well, but I never initiated the Force-Bond. I often enjoyed speaking to Rey then, when she hated me without reason. She did try to understand me as no one else had tried before. I wanted to speak with her now; at the very least send a message of some sort. With closed eyes and resolve, I touched the soft grit below me with hope. Only mere milliseconds were established between us when I tried. Her surroundings were emerald green, a faint smell of wood diffused from wherever she was.

"Rey." I spoke gently, hoping to capture her attention. Thinking her name inside of my head is far from speaking it. When you speak a name your lips tell a story. The emotional weight that a name carries as you pronounce it is amplified as you take the time to acknowledge its presence on your tongue.

I pleaded to the galaxy that she had heard my weak voice say her name.

I sat near the edge of the floating rock I now came to call my home. The debris floating by in their different directions relaxed me as I observed the patterns. I narrowed my eyes. A glimpse of a full ship slid past my sight. I anxiously waited to see it slip by again, maybe closer this time. Rusting parts twisted acrobatically through the air without a hurry. I continued to scan for what I had been looking for. At last, it manifested itself closer this time.

An X-Wing spiraled through the air giving it the illusion that someone was inside flying the ship. But no one was unless they were dead.

I reached my hand out and arched my fingers. Like a child begging for a toy, I reached further. The X-Wing was trying to leave its routine rotation underneath my fingers. I bared my teeth and knotted my brow as I pulled harder. In a game of tug-of-war, the X-Wing was being torn apart. I remember the consequences of such game which caused Rey to believe her friend had blown up on the transport ship. I moved the X-Wing around its cycle under I was able to push it out of the way. I curled my swollen fingers and brought my arm back. Above me floated my chance to escape. Gingerly, I set it down on the rock, sweat dripping from my head. The landing gear was not visible, but the body rested on the bottom of the X- shape which gave it some elevation.

As quick as my failing legs could carry me, I hobbled over to the aircraft. There was no damage to the wings or glass. I motioned my hand upward to open the glass. With creaky hinges, the glass pathetically split and flipped over to open up the seat inside. With the little strength I possessed, I managed to crawl up to the seat, only to find a dead pilot sitting in the seat.

The sight made me ill and the potent smell of decay increased my unease. The detailed horror inscribed on the pilot's face made me flinch backwards. After getting over the gruesome body's swollen appearance, I took the grisly man's helmet and jumpsuit. I pulled the body from the seat and sent it down the front of the narrow craft where it resulted in a firm smack to the ground.

The jumpsuit was baggy, but the helmet fit perfectly. I fired up the engine. It wheezed and spit at first, but nonetheless it was functional.

"Signal, signal..." I mumbled to myself as I allowed for the craft to shake itself awake. There was no way I could connect with a station. The communication wires were completely fried and shorted out. I sighed and prepared to takeoff. The aircraft rattled itself as I brought it from the ground to hover. I obtained more speed until I was ready to jump to lightspeed. With a battle stricken hand on the lever, I breathed. This may not work. I could explode into millions of pieces if the X-Wing proved faulty. I hung my head low, accepting that it was a risk I would need to take. It would be the first step in finding Rey with hundreds of more to go. I flipped the lever and watched. Before me the stars elongated and passed by in blurs. The X-Wing wavered under the stress and dependency I weighed it down with.

I had not the faintest idea of where she might be. I jumped out of lightspeed with no coordinates set and thankfully saw a planet off to the right which made me reminisce about my vibrant childhood.