Force Destiny

Ben knew that his time was extremely limited. He didn't know the energy expenditure that it required, but he could feel himself fading. It likely didn't help that he had to exhaust more energy to carry Rey, but he didn't care; they were closing in on Force Destiny. The secured blast doors stood open, and the guard's posts were abandoned, a result of the ship entering emergency procedures due to its imminent failure.

That was another reason time was limited. Sirens blared around them, smoke hugging the ceiling as it danced down the corridor. The Finalizer was disabled and defenseless. If the Resistance triggered a meltdown in the reactor with a precise enough strike, the whole thing would go. Ben wouldn't concern himself with that. Either he would save Rey, or he would die trying. There was no other option.

Ben had hoped it would end on Force Destiny—a long shot with all he had to overcome, but a hope nonetheless—but he had never imagined it would be her life he'd be racing to save. He hadn't known before how he would get there, but he couldn't stop the overwhelming thought that had tormented him since he had taken his father's dice from the Millennium Falcon. The Force Destiny machine needed a body or an object imbued with one's soul. If there was any object imbued with his father's soul—other than the Millennium Falcon itself—it would be those dice.

It had seemed so simple. Once he had completed his mission, he would have taken the dice to that machine. He had been certain if he just had the chance, he could have saved his father. Han had come back for him; he wanted nothing more than to exchange his life so his father could live. It caused a profound ache in his chest that it wasn't an option anymore.

But he had to save Rey.

It hadn't even been a question—exchanging his life for hers. He had already done it in the caves. He loved her more than anything; he would have died happy knowing she was safe. The Force had given him a chance to do more than just save her, and he had—he had done everything he could to ensure the fall of the First Order. Now that the galaxy was safe, he would exchange their fates and be at peace. If that was his last act before he met his fate, then he couldn't think of a better way to die.

Ben had read enough about Force Destiny to know how it functioned. The issue was that he couldn't use the machine as it had been intended without help. To save her, his lifeforce would already have to be in that liquid. But if he strapped Rey into the machine, and turned it on, then he could sit down into that pool and push his life force out of his body and into the liquid. With his limited understanding of the machine, it should work. It had to work.

Ben would leave her lightsaber in her hand, so she could escape when she awoke. Maybe a part of her would hear him when he told her loved her. It was probably better this way, Ben was never very adept at goodbyes. He knew it would hurt her to see what he had done, but he hoped she would run and find her friends and be safe. He wanted her to live. That was all that mattered.

There was an uneasiness he felt walking down the corridor that led to that door. He had felt it when he had come in search of Rey. He felt it now. There was an uncertainty of whether he would succeed, yes, but there was something else. It was the warning in the Force, perhaps, or the barely visible trail of blood streaking across the black floor. He had anticipated challenges running the machine with his own physical limits.

What Ben hadn't anticipated was that the Force Destiny would already be in use.

Walking through the door of the final room in Weapons Development, Ben was met by his—still alive—red-headed adversary. He had left the man gasping his final breaths on the Command Bridge; how had he made it to Force Destiny? The only other people who had been inside that room were the knights, and they were all busy fighting him.