Skywalker Rises

Direction

Coruscant's library was filled with enough books to occupy hundreds of lifetimes of reading. Rey didn't have time to scratch the surface of all of the topics she needed information on. The librarian droid whizzed around the corner and through the door, a two foot stack of tomes in its outstretched arms, and dropped them onto her work table. Poe had procured her a private research room. The work table was covered in books and papers. Stacks sat on the floor, and on every available chair.

She didn't trust the electronic versions in the archives. The subjects she researched were prone to editing, censorship, and flat out deletion. She had fiddled with the librarian droid's programming, removing the tracking commands. If anyone wanted to know what she was looking at, they weren't going to use the droid's surveillance to find it. They'd have to walk into this room and sort through the heaps of books she'd requested. 

"Next?" said the droid. 

Rey rubbed her forehead, trying to ease away the tension headache. Part of her problem was posing her queries in a way that the droid could process.  Her poorly worded request for books concerning 'Force Healing used for resurrection' had returned her books on metallurgy, the life cycle of desert flora, and a stack of loosely bound documents regarding the incident of Mara Jade Skywalker and her death at the hands of Jacen Solo. And of course, Mara had worked for Palpatine. These families were so mixed up she wasn't sure she'd ever untangle the mess.

"Bring me anything you can find on Palpatine," said Rey, absently staring at the newest stack on her desk. My grandfather, she thought. She still couldn't quite accept that fact.

The droid's fans whirred in agitation, and it left the room, came back in, left, and entered again.

"Please rephrase your request," said the droid. "The volume of texts requested cannot physically fit within this space." 

"Early life and senatorial career," said Rey. 

The droid brought a manageable handful of texts, and as she read, she became more and more queasy. 

Sheev Palpatine hadn't taken long to develop into a sociopathic megalomaniac. Rey felt pity for him when she finished her reading. Sheev's father had been a monster, and had fathered a monster in turn. That seemed to be the trend. Sheev had turned to the dark side early as Darth Sidious. He'd killed his entire family and his dark master. She couldn't find anything about her grandmother or parents. A woman had actually slept with that awful man at least once. Rey shivered in disgust. His deathly white, deranged face as she had seen it on Exegol still haunted her dreams. 

Palpatines, Skywalkers, and Solos seemed to have trouble remaining on the light side of the Force. Great. Just great. Of course, most of them were men. Female Jedi were few and far between. Leia had remained true, never giving into the lust for power the dark side offered. 

I better not judge too harshly, she thought. I was willing to let all of those slimy Sith lords into me. For a good reason. But of course her predecessors likely also had good reasons. At least from their point of view. 

And now she was alone. Poe and Finn were willing to talk to her about anything, but it felt awkward. She still hadn't told them in detail about what had happened on Exegol, in that miserable Sith den. 'I was dead, guys. Actually, clinically dead. And I was resurrected by one of your favorite people. Who, by the way, appears to have sacrificed his very life to make it happen. Any questions?'

She laughed out loud at the absurdity of it.

"Next?" said the droid, poking its head through the doorway. It remained stationed outside, available for her every beck and call. 

"Don't light any candles in here," said Poe, joining the droid in the doorway.

"The librarians already lectured me about the danger of fires in the library," said Rey. "And the droid is programmed to spray pressurized nitrogen at the barest hint of smoke."

"What are you looking for?" said Poe, gesturing at the mess she'd made.

"Some kind of direction."

"In old books?" Poe didn't bother to hide his skepticism.

Rey snorted. "Since all of the old people these old books are about are long dead, yes. It's a place to start, anyway. Do you have a better idea?"

"Take a break and come to dinner."

Rey looked at her stacks and tried not to feel overwhelmed. This method wasn't getting her anywhere. But what could she do? 

"Fine. Droid, keep snoopers out." 

The librarian droid cocked its triangular head. "I am programmed to locate and retrieve texts."

"If anyone decides to locate and retrieve a text from this room, send them away," said Rey.

The droid moved to stand in front of the doorway after she exited. Good enough. 

"You're checking out the most sought-after titles, I take it?" said Poe. 

"Oh yes, only the bestsellers. Books about villains of the dark side and plants of the desert. Real page turners."

Locating books about the Force had been a huge disappointment. Aside from the books she had taken from the Jedi temple on Ahch-To, she hadn't found anything else in the library. Censored? Destroyed? Hidden? Or just never present in the first place? She had found several texts about the Mandalorians, who resembled the Jedi in some ways. The history between the Jedi and Mandalorians was fraught with strife and death. Just like the Jedi history with everyone. Rey pushed that thought down. There wasn't anything to be gained from it. 

"Do you think we still have enemies out there?" said Rey.

Poe stopped walking and stared at her. "You aren't seriously asking me that, are you?"

She felt stupid. Of course they had enemies. There were always enemies. But were they enemies who required Jedi intervention? Enemies she would have to face as the token galaxy Jedi?

"Yes, General, I'm seriously asking." 

Poe started walking again. "Let's hope they stay away for a good long time. Now hurry up, I'm hungry." 

She jogged to catch up with him.