Chapter 1
Rey stood for a moment, catching her breath as she watched the earth cave in all around her. The man who had tried his absolute hardest to kill her was drifting further and further away from her line of sight. A wave of relief flooded over her when he was finally disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Rey shut her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking body. She powered down her saber and tucked it into her belt. A second later she was off running, trying desperately to find Finn in the darkened forest.
After several frantic minutes of searching she finally stumbled across the limp body of her friend lying in the snow, blood puddling under his shoulder. She quickly reached into the pack on her belt and called for Chewy to bring the Falcon as close as he possibly could to her current coordinates. She leaned down and breathed a sigh of receive when she realized he was still breathing. As gently as she could, Rey bent down and pulled Finn out of the snow.
Finn groaned as she lifted him up, half carrying, half dragging him towards the Falcon.
“S-stop.” He mumbled. “Hav...to go back”
“We don’t have time!” Rey shouted, picking up her pace as a large tree came crashing down only feet behind them.
“No!” Finn grumbled, trying to push away from Rey. “...can’t let ‘er die!”
“Can’t let who die?” Rey asked, panicking at the thought of leaving behind anyone on the doomed planet.
“Garbage chute….” He huffed “th-third level...” He stuttered before going limp in Rey’s arms once more.
“Shit!” Rey cussed as she finally reached the ship. She gently shifted Finn into the waiting arms of Chewbacca.
“We can’t leave yet!” She shouted as she ran towards the cockpit.
The Wookiee growled in protest.
“It’ll be quick! I promise!” She called over her shoulder, already settling into the controls.
Rey maneuvered the ship through the rapidly collapsing forest and quickly found a ,mostly intact, area to land the Falcon in. She bolted up and out towards the ramp. Chewy growled, causing her to pause.
“I won’t let that happen.” She replied, sprinting off the ship. She flew through the doors of the base, relieved to find it empty. She skidded past the broken lift and took the stairs two at a time, sprinting down the hall, and searched madly for anything that even vaguely resembled a trash chute.
A mere second before giving up she heard a sharp scream from somewhere to her right. She frantically searched the area and found a small door. A loud grinding, along with what sounded like screams of pain, were coming from behind it. Rey took a brief second to study a panel near the door. She huffed and began yanking wires from the wall.
Suddenly, the door flew open and Rey saw a figure squirming in the middle of the room. The compactor was moving sporadically, the walls crushing on and off at different intervals, but never fully coming together. It must have malfunctioned as the base was destroyed Rey thought. The figure screamed again as a wall slammed against their body.
They turned their head as the dim light of the hallway flooded the small area. Rey gaped as she realized who the figure was, a high ranking stormtrooper by the name of Phasma.
She pushed her fear back and reached out towards the figure, flinching as another wall crashed forward towards the trooper. “I’m here to get you out!” Rey called out.
Phasma reached out her own hand and weakly clasped Rey’s arm. Rey pulled hard but nothing happened.
“My arm is caught!” Phasma called out, her voice shaking.
Rey pulled her hand back and gasped, it was covered in blood. She looked back at the trooper and saw her arm, as well as her breastplate, was dripping with blood.
“Shit!” She huffed before climbing into the chute herself. She watched the walls around her carefully, stopping and swearing every time they slammed shut. She finally reached Phasma and reached quickly around her, unhooking her armor from a scrap piece of metal.
She felt the sudden force of one of the walls knock her sideways, sending her tumbling down into the mangled mess of garbage. Before she could get to her feet, a strong arm yanked her forward and out of the room.
The two tumbled to the floor as the compactor finally gave out under the stress of the collapsing base. Rey scrambled to her feet and watched Phasma struggle to get to hers, the blood streaming down her body was making the floor beneath her slick.
Rey quickly pulled the woman to her feet and the pair bolted down and out towards the Falcon.
Phasma stumbled to a stop. “I...know this s-ship...” She wheezed before collapsing at the base of the ramp.
Rey groaned as she dragged the woman by her shoulders onto the ship. “Go! Now!” She shouted at Chewbacca as she passed the cockpit.
The sudden lurch of the ship sent her stumbling around the hallway, struggling even more to get the woman into one of the cargo bays. As soon as the Falcon had stabilized, she leant the chrome clad woman against a crate and secured her hopefully non-injured wrist to a nearby pipe.
Rey trugged backup to the cockpit and flopped down into the co-pilots chair. She felt a sweeping sense of exhaustion flooded over her. She shut her eyes and briefly wondered what would come of the woman in the cargo hold.
What seemed like mere seconds later, Rey was awoken by a warm hand and low growl. She opened her eyes and glanced up at Chewbacca, he was telling her they were almost home.
The next few moments seemed to blur together. They landed, medics came rushing in for Finn, Rey stepped into the blinding sun and was surrounded by cheers of excitement. She watched as Finn was carted away and she felt the threatening sting of tears in her eyes. Somehow, she knew he would be alright. She could feel it.
Before she could follow the medical transport a warm face caught her eye. General Organa walked towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. Rey let the tears fall as she embraced the woman back. Deep in her own heart Rey could feel the suffering radiating from Leia. Quickly Rey began to panic, worried about what Leia would have to say about the stormtrooper currently locked in the Falcon.
Rey pulled away from Leia awkwardly, shifting her weight.
“What is is?” Leia asked, still holding Rey’s arms gently.
“It’s...there’s something...someone else on the ship.” She replied quietly, turning to look back at the aircraft behind her.
Leia eyed Rey nervously before following her back onboard the Falcon. A few moments later the two women were standing in front of the injured Captain. She was unconscious but still alive. The woman’s breath came rattling out of her cracked helmet and worried Rey greatly. She knew Phasma needed immediate medical attention.
“This is...one of The Order’s highest ranking members!” Leia nearly yelled. The older women’s outburst startled Rey.
“I know! But she needed help! I wasn’t just about to let her die!” Rey retorted.
“This woman is a stormtrooper, Rey! She is powerful and very dangerous! You know how the First Order operates! Do you have any idea how risky it is having her on this base!?”
“Yes, of course I know! But Finn…” Rey started.
Leia stopped her mid-sentence, “Finn chose to abandon The Order on his own! She…”
“Finn is the one who told me to go back for her!” Rey shouted at last.
Leia looked surprised and opened her mouth to reply. She sighed and glanced between the trooper and Rey.
“You’re going to drop her on the nearest habitable planet the minute she is healed. Do you understand?” She turned and walked out of the room. Stopping at the door she turned over her shoulder and glanced at Rey, “We are going to have a talk about this later.”
Rey nodded and bent down to untie the restraints around Phasam’s hand.
Rey hoisted the woman up and heard her groan in pain. It was going to be just as difficult to get the Captain off the ship as it was to get her on. She lowered Phasma back onto the ground, and searched the immediate area for something to help.
Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps came echoing through the halls of the empty ship. Rey bolted to stand between Phasma and the small hatch that led into the room. The hatch door flew open and Poe stepped into the room.
“General Organa told me you needed some help in heeee-” Poe stopped as he laid eyes on the slumped figure behind Rey.
“What the hell is she doing here Rey?!” He asked frantically, yanking Rey away from the trooper.
“Let go of me!” She shouted, pulling her arm from his grip. “I’m the one who brought her here!”
Poe glared at her. “She’s the one who gave the order to kill all those people on Jakku! You know that don’t you? This woman is evil Rey!”
“I...I know alright?” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I know who she is...I just...I couldn’t let her die.”
Poe kept glaring as Rey continued. “Finn… told me to get her okay? And...I trust Finn. I know who she and what she’s done but...I trust him.”
Poe sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah...I trust Finn too.” He finally replied.
Rey gave a weak smile and leaned down to pull one of Phasma’s arms over her shoulder. “I’m still going to need help” She added weakly.
Poe walked over and did the same. Together they hoisted the Captain to her feet, both struggling to keep their own balance.
“Were going to get some looks” Poe mumbled as they neared the boarding ramp. “Might even send some people running and screaming”
Rey glanced at him. “I know, but this is the right thing to do. This is what Finn would do.”
Together they carried the injured Captain into the sun and prepared for the reactions that would ultimately come.