“Ben!” Rey could not believe who she was looking at! She rubbed her eyes to ensure she wasn’t seeing things—that Ben was not a mere Force ghost.
Clenching his fist, he ordered the Beacerika to change its form, and it did. It now was a cute, brown creature with dark eyes, large ears, a white belly, and brown fur. Landing on Ben’s shoulder, it crawled to his head and settled down on his mass of dark hair.
Once it was nice and snug, Ben placed his hands on his hips. “Well, Rey, you sure find yourself in a lot of trouble now, don’t ya?”
“Ben! How did you—? I saw the earthquake swallow you!”
“I came to return this to you.” With that, Ben held his lightsaber out to bewildered Rey. “You lost it on Phonolukamy.”
At the sight of the saber, the girl’s eyes popped. She started to reach for it but pulled back when she feared that the hooded figure would try to kill her again. She knew he was still angry at her for throwing her new lightsaber. Besides, she still couldn’t believe that she was indeed looking at Ben Solo.
The young woman closed her eyes and whimpered. She could not bring herself to take the saber out of Ben’s hand.
He felt her fear. Why was Rey so scared?
She pushed his arm away and picked up her new lightsaber—the red one. Then, with it in hand, she started to leave Ben.
He called, “Rey!” and reached for her shoulder.
The young woman sensed him and glared. Whirling around, she snatched his fist and knocked him back a few steps. Her eyes once again flashed yellow when she did that.
She looked very evil, and that frightened Ben. Was he too late? He couldn’t be! To Rey, he begged, “Rey, don’t let the Emperor take the upper hand over you. This is not who you are!” What started as a mission for Rey to turn Ben back to the Light side became a mission for him to save her, and it was all because of what the Beacerika did to her on Dark Side Island.
She let Ben go and turned on her heel.
He watched as she marched away, with clenched fists at her sides, and tried to devise a plan to help her. The arm injury wasn’t the only thing causing her to suffer, nor was the Emperor himself. Even the Beacerika wasn’t turning her. Something else was going on, and it was up to Ben to prevent it from torturing her anymore.
With the Beacerika still on his head, he headed over to the dazed Luggabeast, who had just awakened.
It cleared its head by shaking it and rubbing its foot on the ground.
Ben stopped before it and bowed.
The Beacerika clung to his hair when he did.
“My bad,” the man told the Luggabeast. “I did not mean to slam you into the buildings. I know you’re recovering from that throw, but you must tell me where Rey is going. Time is running out. Jakku’s sun is growing larger and hotter by the second, and if we don’t do something fast, I will no longer be able to call Rey a ‘friend’.”
While going through the deserted bazaar, Rey searched for the medical center Aerolin mentioned, but she needed help finding it. She’d never been there before, and how could she know where places were if nobody was on the streets to tell her? In fact, where were the villagers? Why was it so eerily quiet in the Desert Resort?
As Rey tried to figure that out, she rubbed the sweat from her brow and let her cape wave behind her. Then… she found something. A vast building surrounded by sand waterfalls seemed to call her name. Rey did not need her Force abilities to feel a haunting, familiar presence.
She reached down and picked up a lone staff. While it resembled the staff she usually carried, it was different. With it in hand, the girl glared and entered the haunted building.
***
“What do you mean Jakku’s sun is going supernova?” Poe Dameron asked Lando Calrissian in a furious voice.
“If my memory serves me right,” C-3PO spoke from off to the side, “a supernova is an exploding star.”
“Exploding star? But Rey is on that planet!” The panic in Finn’s voice was real. He whirled around to face 3PO.
Rose crossed her arms, slightly jealous, behind him. She sometimes felt like Finn liked Rey more than her.
Still glaring, Poe angrily but desperately asked Lando, “What kind of weapons did you smuggle into the First Order? Do you not even realize that they are our greatest enemy?”
“The First Order knows of Jakku’s imminent death,” Lando explained with crossed arms. “They know there is a power out there that exceeds theirs. So, therefore, I am working with them to stop this threat from coming true.”
“What?” Rose was so confused, as were Finn and Poe, “But they murdered my sister! The First Order is filled full of nothing but monsters!”
“You’re wrong.” Lando shook his head. He flicked up the collar of his shirt to make himself look cool. “The First Order lives in this galaxy as well. Nobody wants to die. Come on. We all know this. If we are going to win this war, then we need to turn our greatest enemies into our greatest allies.”
“That’s right! I’m ready to rumble!” Just as he said that, Yamo picked up a blaster and set it. He closed one eye and pointed it forward as if practicing target shooting.
Behind him, another seven-foot-tall Lukaemian, Houdini, crossed his massive arms and admitted, “The Emperor may be back, kids, but at the end of the day, while he is extremely dangerous, he is not the true threat we are dealing with here.”
“What?” Rose looked even more confused than she already was. “Then who is?”
Lando cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows in anger. “The true threat is Rey.”
***
“There it is, Chewie! The Phonolukamy Blockade!” From his side of the X-Wing’s cockpit, Temiri pointed forward at the towering Limpton. “We just need to get inside, find the Emperor, and figure out what he did with General Hux and the rest of the crewmembers.” Smirking, he peered over his shoulder at Chewie, who returned his stare and said, “Come on. You made the Kessel Run with Han Solo in twelve parsecs, so I know you have a plan.”
Chewie did. He remembered his plans from his adventures with Luke and Leia Skywalker and couldn’t wait to try them again, that time with Temiri Blagg.
***
“Rey!” Ben’s voice traveled through the entire bazaar of the Desert Resort, but he received no answer.
P-43 rolled ahead of him and searched the tables and barrels in case she hid behind them.
Behind Ben, the Luggabeast nudged his back with its helmet.
“Don’t worry,” he encouraged the cybernetic creature, running his hand across the top of its helmet. “We’ll find Rey.” His eyes then rolled up to the Beacerika sitting on his head. “Beacerika, I know you know where she is. Why don’t you lead the way?”
Understanding his request, the tamed Beacerika nodded and looked toward the building Rey entered.
***
That did not look like a medical center. Rey had no idea why she was drawn toward that one particular building. Like the rest of the Desert Resort, aside from her, there were no life forms in it.
Her scavenger senses took her to a door at the end of the hallway, and she kicked it down. She entered what looked like a run-down laboratory or control room. Old computers and droids surrounded her. That raised an interesting question, at least for Rey. Was the Desert Resort something else before it became the Desert Resort? What if one of the computers still worked? That would allow the scavenger to pinpoint where the villagers may be.
With that in mind, she tightened her grip on her staff and approached a computer. Rey scrambled around with the buttons to see if they would turn it on, but none did. She didn’t give up, though. Something told her a computer still worked and could make her mission much easier.
The young woman hurried toward another one across the room but bumped into an old droid—an R2 unit. It rested in the center.
Rey jumped when she felt it. “Excuse me,” she spoke, gently pushing it off to the side to reach the computer she was drawn toward. Her eyes scanned it up and down. “Why do I feel that this is the computer I need?” She shuffled to a latch and grabbed it. The young woman took a deep breath. Then, she pulled the latch up.
Amazingly, all around her, the computers booted up simultaneously, including the one she was beside. Each computer screen glowed blue, and the blue showered young Rey.
A part of her didn’t shine, though. “Wow,” she stammered as she examined the many different computers, but her excitement quickly faded when she heard the familiar, haunting laughter of the hooded man, her tormenter:
“Well done, Rey.” That time, a holographic image of his face appeared before the computer she was interested in. “You’ve passed your test.”
“Test? What test?” Why did Rey feel like she just did something terrible? Did the man pull her into a trap, or was this indeed her destiny?
He smirked and admitted, “Your Force abilities are waiting for you and your new power.”
“What test?” Rey asked again, creasing her brows.
“As Empress of this galaxy, we will take out the whole First Order and Resistance,” the man told her. “The supernova awaits you. That is where you shall receive your new power.”
“Wait, supernova? What are you talking about, Grand—?” Rey cut off there. Something, a word, almost escaped her lips, but she stopped herself before she could say anymore.
Cackling, the man gave her an evil look and asked, “Ah, I see you’re starting to understand yourself.”
“What are you talking about? I’m just a scavenger from Jakku. I’m nobody. Ben told me in Snoke’s throne room.”
“Ben is weak. You’re not.” When he said that, the man’s holographic image changed. It expanded to show a full-body apparition—not a hologram but an apparition. He started toward nervous Rey.
Gulping, she backed away. Her left hand rested on the hilt of her lightsaber, but she was too scared to ignite it.
As the man edged closer to her, her right arm trembled. Then, boom! He shot out his hand and grabbed it.
Yelling in pain, the girl tried to free her arm, but he only tightened his grip on it.
She flinched and shook with fear as he undid the bandage around the Beacerika’s wound and pulled it off. “Ah, lovely,” he spoke as he examined the wound. “No longer is your blood red. It is the color of the Dark side, black, which means your training is nearly complete.”
“Let go,” Rey begged as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please. It hurts. I came here looking for a medical center.”
“All you need to do now… granddaughter… is fly to the supernova.”
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End of Part I: Who is Rey?
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