Star Wars: Son of Skywalker | Book III: The Rise of Skywalker

Chapter X: Fear

Poe piloted the ship, hiding it behind a giant asteroid as it drifts across the stars. Rey is in the other corridor, still traumatized of what she had caused, the thought of Chewbacca being gone just felt unreal. BB-8 is with her, comforting her but she still feels afraid. Poe walks out of the cockpit, seeing Finn and Jacen sitting on the crates of the main corridor, R2 and C-3PO were standing beside them. Jacen held a holographic image of Rose as she informs them of something regarding the New Empire plans.

"Apparently we just found another file on the plans you recovered." Said Rose.

"Is there something else the Emperor was up to?" Asked Finn.

"We think so, problem is, the file is scrambled completely, we're working on it right now." Said Rose.

"Great, more secret plans." Said Jacen. "Keep us updated on this."

"Will do, be careful...and I'm sorry to hear about Chewie." Said Rose.

"Thank you." Said Jacen, as the image of Rose fades away.

"Alright, we only have about Eight hours left before Palpatine attacks, what do we do now?" Asked Poe.

"What else can we do? We have to go back to base." Said Finn.

"We can't go back to base, if we give up, Chewie died for nothing!" Yelled Poe.

"Chewie had the dagger, they took our only clue to Exegol!" Said Finn.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Jacen.

"We find another way." Said Poe.

"There is no other way, that was our only clue and it's gone!" Said Finn.

"So true, the inscription lives only in my memory now." Said C-3PO, as the four of them, including R2, stare at him.

"What did you say?" Asked Jacen.

"You heard me right Master Jacen, but the forbidden translation cannot be retrieved." Said C-3PO. "That is short of a complete reductive memory bypass."

"A memory what?" Asked Finn.

"A terribly dangerous and simple act only performed on unwitting droids by none other than dregs and criminals." Said C-3PO.

"Let's do that!" Said Finn, the protocol droid turns to him with a shocked expression.

"Where else? Coruscant Underworld." Said Poe. "I know a black market droid-smith that can help us."

"Black market droid-smith?!" Yelled C-3PO out of shock.

"How do you know this guy?" Asked Jacen.

"I had a little bad luck back on Coruscant." Said Poe. "But if this mission fails, it's all been for nothing." There was a moment of silence between the four of them.

"...we're all in this, until the end..." Said Finn, reaching his hand out. Poe looks at it and grabs it, he then grabs C-3PO's hand, R2 beeps in a sad tone, not having any hands of his own, so 3PO puts his hand on his dome.

"You too old friend." Said the protocol droid. Jacen then grabs Finn's free hand, knowing his part in this mission.

"...alright then...for Chewie." Said Jacen, after a few seconds, they let go as Poe heads for the Cockpit.

"I'm gonna go check on Rey." Said Finn, as he heads towards the other corridor. Jacen looks at the toolbox on the side of the wall, and walks towards it, he thought of an idea for both lightsabers.

"Alright, here goes nothing." Said Poe as he sets the ships coordinates and turns on the hyperdrive. "The sooner we get to Coruscant, the greater chance we have to stop the Emperor."

"...yeah..." Said Jacen in a serious tone.

She kept looking at her hand, possibly for the past hour, her eyes look like they haven't blinked since then, BB-8 stayed with her the whole time, she hasn't said a word in what felt like a lifetime. Finn enters the corridor, she doesn't flinch or turn towards him.

"How are you feeling?" Finn asked, she kept silent. He and BB-8 looked at each other in a worried manner.

"...I lost control..." She spoke, still staring at it.

"It wasn't your fault." Said Finn, trying to be gentle with her.

"...It was." She said.

"No, it was Kylo, he made you—."

"Chewie's gone!" She said. "That power came from me...Finn there are things that you don't know."

"Then tell me." He said, only wanting to help her, he clearly cared about her. Rey's lips begin to tremble, struggling to utter another word.

"...I.....I had a vision....of the throne of the Sith....and who was on it." She said.

"Kylo?" Asked Finn.

"...and me." Said Rey, terrified, believing, and at the same time, not understanding what she saw.

Jacen finished tweaking the hilts, combining both his and Vader's lightsabers into a double bladed saber-staff. Before he could test the ignition, the door slides open as Rey finally steps back into the main corridor, still shook but seemed to have calmed down a little. She looks at his weapon, seeming to have an interest in it, reminding her of her staff. She then notices the look on his face, a cold, and focused expression.

"Finn told me about the dagger, I hope Poe knows what he's doing." Said Rey, Jacen was silent. "Is there anything I should know about Coruscant? The underworld?... Jacen are you listening?"

"...he's caused too much darkness in the galaxy." Said Jacen, referring to the Emperor, and his reign over the Empire. He still looked at his hilt. "The war, the suffering, it was all because of him...I won't let history repeat itself." He said with vengeful tone.

"Isn't this what we're doing? To stop the Empire?" Asked Rey.

"...to put an end to the Empire, and if we stop him and he comes back again, how many more can he create? I'm not going to let the Republic be in vain." Said Jacen, grabbing the hilt, igniting both blades on each side horizontally, one red, one blue. He then twirls the blade into a vertical position, weapon behind him. "I'm going to finish what Anakin started, and destroy the Sith...I'm going to find Palpatine....and I'm going to kill him." He said with darkness in his eyes and determination in his voice, believing in his sense of justice. Rey was now worried, this wasn't the boy who she befriended back on Jakku eleven years ago, this was someone else, someone who doesn't fear the dark side, and willing to kill his enemies if they stand in the way.