Force Destiny

Poe's Threat

Rey backed away from him in disbelief, trying to wrap her mind around his cruel words. The bond snapped shut as she entered the corridor, just as he said it would. There were sirens and explosions, and the Force was chaotic with energy as she navigated the empty corridor. She had to find her friends, she had to do something. She found Rose sprinting up the temple steps with a blaster.

Rey pulled the blaster from her own belt, following her friend up the steps. "Where are Finn and Poe?"

"Rey, where were you?" Rose huffed between breaths. "They think the ship landed by the old base, and there shouldn't be more than a dozen onboard."

"There are only ten," Rey said quickly, squinting as the bright rays of the sun blinded her temporarily. They didn't hesitate to sprint across the small landing and down the steps to the jungle. Rey felt each step down in the Force as she blinked away the dark spots in her vision.

"Even better," Rose panted next to her, eyes forward with determination. "They left with the others, hoping to eliminate them all before they can relay our position."

Rey nearly tripped down the last step as her friend's word sunk in. "No, Rose, they can't! If those stormtroopers disappear, a lot more will come looking!"

Rose stopped at the base of the stairs. "How do you..."

"Just trust me!" Rey shouted, pulled her friend by the arm. "We have to stop them! If we don't, we all die!" The two women took off into the jungle after Finn and Poe. Rey buried her fear over Kylo's angry words, her fear for the future, her fear for her friends, and focused on what she knew she needed to do. She had to trust Kylo. She had to stop the fighting, persuade both the First Order and the Resistance to lay down their weapons. It was the only way they could avoid a massacre. It was all up to her.

Branches reached like claws from the shadows, ripping and tearing at their exposed skin. Rey stumbled as something wrapped around her ankle. The momentum threw her toward the ground, slicing her cheek. She screamed in fury, kicking and pulling at the tightening black vine that was dragging her toward a hole in the forest floor. Channeling the darkness around her, she found the strength to rip it from her ankle and immediately took off toward the base. Wiping the blood from her cheek, it was only then that she realized she was crying, the salt from her tears stinging her fresh wound.

Rey burst from the trees into the clearing, crashing into a wall of dread. The crumbled base loomed before them; the First Order ship had set down to the left. Panic squeezed the breath from her lungs as the sounds of blaster fire echoed across the clearing.

"We're too late," Rose gasped beside her, mirroring Rey's thoughts.

What could she do? Even if she used a mind trick to persuade the Resistance to stop fighting, the First Order wouldn't, unless...

"We have to try!" Rey shouted, sprinting across the grass.

If the Resistance had the element of surprise, the battle did not reflect it. The stormtroopers had corned them inside the rubble of the entrance to the base. Rey climbed over broken segments of the roof, finding a crevice large enough to squeeze herself through. Rose followed behind her, calling out to Finn as she ran. Red and blue blaster bolts illuminated the darkness around them as the troopers continued their advance. Members of the Resistance found cover behind fallen debris and sections from the collapsed ceiling. Rey found Poe in the darkness, nearly crashing into him in her haste.

"You have to surrender!"

"What?" His arms were raised as he fired suppressive bolts at the entrance of the base. His eyes flicked to hers quickly to judge her sincerity. "No way! We win or we die."