Rey awakens in total darkness. Everything around her is a haze- she feels like she’s left the physical world, and is now in some sort of mental projection. And then, there is a dim light. Her heart begins to pound faster. A sinking feeling falls over her- she knows what lies in front of her, and tries to run away. But there’s nowhere to run in the darkness. The light grows brighter and brighter, revealing four faint apparitions- The Watchers. One of the shadowy figures waves away the dark clouds, and steps forwards. His face and body is now revealed.

He appears to be a tall, middle aged human male, royally dressed, with a sharp, pointed face and a rugged beard. “My name is Alstaire,” he proclaims. Next, another one of the figures steps forwards, and the clouds are wiped away again to reveal a tall, middle aged human female with kind, caring eyes. “And I am Kiyla,” she proclaims.

Rey swallows in trepedition, and asks them, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

Alstaire replies, “We have the same goal as you: we want to save this galaxy.”

Rey replies, “By disrupting the Force?”

Alstaire continues, “We are keeping it away from the wrong hands.”

“And whose hands are those?”

“The hands of many,” Alstaire calmly replies.

Rey doesn’t know what to say, and looks confused. Now Kiyla speaks: “The Force is a great energy, flowing through all living beings. But it is also a powerful weapon. With it, those who are greedy and wicked have used it to herald in war and death. It is not just the Jedi and the Sith who wield its powers; each living being has access to it, albeit in different ways.”

Rey ponders for a few seconds, then realizes what Kiyla means: “The Force is what gives the cruel ones the willpower to overcome the current laws and systems holding them back.”

Kiyla kindly smiles, but with great sorrow. “You are a clever, clever child. It seems we think alike. But alas, that is the tragic nature of the Force. Due to its duality, only those who aim for justice and peace can wield it. And those who do not, such as Kylo Ren, must never have it.”

The name strikes something deep inside of Rey. Then she asks, “You want to stop the First Order?”

“We must. But as of now, we are not strong enough to do so. In time, we will find ways to get stronger. Then, only by working together with you can we find a way to bring peace to the galaxy.”

“If you need me, then why did you take the Force away from me when I faced Kylo Ren?” Rey questions defiantly.

Kiyla looks confused, and says, “We know nothing of that. When?”

“That... wasn’t your doing? Then what of the instability in the Force? How is General Citho connected to all this?”

Kiyla, answers, “We wish we knew. We are trying to heal the Force, too. The tears must be remnants of destruction caused by that misguided man...”

Her words send a shiver down Rey’s spine. There is something beneath them that Rey does not want to know. She tries to distance herself away, saying, “I still don’t understand. Why me?”

“Because you, young child, are not an ordinary one. You have a gift inside of you. One that we foresee to be the key to saving every being once and for all. You have been Chosen by the Force.”

Rey is skeptical, but is curious, as she is filled with many questions. “If I’m so important, you wouldn’t have taken the Force away from me back in the lake!”

Alstaire replies, “It was for your own good. Just nearby, we sensed a presence. It was faint, but as this presence began to shed its mask, we knew it was one who could not be trusted: Luke Skywalker.”

Rey bites back, “What do you have against him?”

Alstaire responds, “We know it is hard to accept, but you must believe us, for the greater good of the galaxy. If Luke gets to you and your powers, he will misuse you, and surely lead your mind astray. He will usher in great chaos, just as he did many years ago.”

“Luke is beloved by everyone on Etilma! He saved them!” Rey shouts back.

Kiyla shakes her head, “Oh... so she doesn’t know. My poor child...”

Rey glares at her, “Don’t know what?”

Kiyla continues, “Etilma is simply one planet out of many. You have not seen, first-hand, the destruction that Luke had wrought throughout the galaxy. By allowing the Force to be used by the cruel.”

Rey refutes this, yelling back, “He would NEVER let the Force fall into the wrong hands.”

Kiyla replies, “You have not seen it... the divisions and discords he had sewn in...”

Alstaire speaks up, “There is little time left. Leave Luke and believe in us, and we will give you back your powers. With them, you can save Etilma.”

Rey shakes her head, “No. You’re all wrong. I side with Luke.” She turns her back to the Watchers.

Kiyla cries out to her, “Please don’t go! Let us be with you! You’ll be in grave danger!”

Rey begins to activate her surrogate again. As the four figures fade away, Rey feels herself falling down, faster and faster, through the darkness. Suddenly, she snaps back awake, and sees that she is inside of the Mandalorian base. She is kneeling down, with her arms extended and tightly bound by cords and ropes, held by Mandalorian soldiers on the other end.

In front of her, a bald, fierce-looking Mandalorian man with a goatee is squatting down and looking at her in the eyes, “Ah,” he says devilishly, “So she’s awake.”

Rey seethes at him, “Who are you people, and what are you doing here?”

The Mandalorian gets up, and chuckles. “What do you think? For ages, this planet has been protected by a pesky defense system. Most thought it was powered by just technology, but they were wrong- turns out some sort of rare, blue kyber crystal was behind it all. And then one day, what do you know, our trackers found its signals were madly going haywire! We landed near the source that we believed was causing interference with the kyber crystal. And our scientists found a way to manipulate some sort of creature to hamper the signal of the crystal. It just vanished! None of us could believe it, but we didn’t question it. So what better time to carve out our share of this planet and take advantage of its rich resources and wildlife.”

Rey looks around her. Surrounding her appear to be 12 highly capable Mandalorian soldiers. Unfazed, she asks the leader again, “You didn’t answer my question. Who are you people?”

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The leader gets annoyed. “What are you, daft? Stupid? Look at the armor we’ve got on! We’re Mandalorian exiles! Thrown out of the planet because we were caught in the middle of corruption and a black market scheme! Seriously, kids these days need to catch on with the news...”

The leader then squats down again, his face right next to Rey’s. He continues, “And now that I’ve given you a little of what you want, shouldn’t it be fair that you give me some of what I want?” He grins, and Rey is disgusted. He tells her, “There’s a village housing a barrack full of Wotuin soldiers. The last line of defense for these buggers. We want to know where it is. Now, would you please kindly hold up your end of the bargain?”

Rey spits at him. “I never agreed to one to begin with.”

The leaders gets up, and wipes his face. “Rude. Guess you’ll have to pay some other way.” He motions to a guard, and makes a cutting gesture with his hand. Rey begins to panic as the guard walks over. He ignites a plasma blade.

“You will pay for this!” Rey shouts at him. The leader laughs.

Rey screams as a burning pain sears across her wrist, seizing her whole arm up in a convolution. She yells and curses, closing her eyes to shut away the trauma. She takes rapid breathes, but the pain still won’t leave. With her teeth clenched tight, she opens one eye, and in a blur, she sees that her right hand has been cut off. Right next to her, a Mandalorian soldier drenches it in some liquid and begins to burn it. Now consumed with utmost hatred, she glares at the Mandalorian leader.

“So, how’d that feel?” He grins, “Tell us where they are now, or you’ll see that we’ve got a lot worse in stock for ya.”

Though anguished, Rey gathers all the strength she can, and harshly whispers, “Never.”

Suddenly, faraway screams of Mandalorian soldiers are heard. Blasters flare throughout the base, and bodies slam onto the ground. The soldiers all look around them, bewildered by the surprise attack. One soldier launches his jet pack and flies above to scout for danger, but as he’s flying, a robed figure jumps out and pierces him through with its green lightsaber.

The soldier and the robed figure both land on the ground, and the robed figure unhoods itself to reveal that it’s Luke Skywalker. The other Mandalorians attack him, but Luke slashes through them all. Finally, only the leader is left. He takes out a strange weapon, and ignites it to reveal a Dark Saber.

The leader smirks, “Wondering where this came from? Well, I took it from Mandalore royalty as a going away present.”

Luke duels him, and the leader quickly loses. Luke holds his lightsaber just above him.

“Your base has been captured by the Wotuins. You and your soldiers will be held prisoners on this planet, until the authority of the New Republic is restored and you can stand trial before the galactic courts.”

Luke signals a message on his transmitter, and Wotuins barge in to capture the Mandalorian leader. Luke looks to Rey, and his expressions falls when he sees her missing hand.

OUTSIDE of the base, Wotuin medics and technicians rush to attach a metallic hand onto Rey. She opens and closes the hand, but has trouble doing so, and grunts in frustration and despair.

“Unfortunately, with their limited resources, this clunky old model was all the Wotuins had,” Luke solemnly tells her. “I made adjustments to it to try to get it to work better.” Luke places his own metal hand on her shoulder, and continues, “After all, it took me a while to adjust to my own. So I know a few tricks on how to work it.”

Rey covers her face with her left hand, and says, “So this is what I deserve? I guess the universe has its ways of punishing horrible people.”

Luke refutes her, saying, “You weren’t punished for being evil. You were reckless, and it cost you, but never say that you ‘deserved’ it. Things just happen. We can only learn from our mistakes.”

“Just reckless? I was captured... and if the Wotuins didn’t arrive in time, I could’ve revealed where they were, and let them be ambushed. I said I didn’t want them to risk their lives, but there was another reason! You know what I was thinking. I was...”

Luke finishes her sentence for her, “Trying to prove that you could do what no one else could? He sighs, “Every time I learn more about you, I realize that there’s a lot we have in common. I didn’t want to be a farmboy forever. So I wanted to make a name for myself. But at the same time, I was fighting the Empire because I had to stop it from hurting others. I was motivated by both selfishness and selflessness.”

Rey speaks up, “How will I ever be able to know if I made a selfish or a selfless decision?”

Luke replies, “Sometimes, you just can’t. Motivations are too complex. At the end of the day, it’s not about judging what drives us, but about what we accomplish. As long as we save others from being hurt, then we know we have done the right thing. And when we have to choose between our own wants and the needs of others, we must always choose others over ourselves.”

Rey pauses, and realizes that his words resonate deeply with her own experiences. She asks him, “The last time I saw Kylo Ren... I hesitated to kill him.”

Luke does not look at her, but shuts his eyes. “I sense that a part of you cares for him. There is something that he has that you do not want to lose.”

Rey tries to speak up again, but before she can, Luke continues, “When the time comes, for the greater good of the galaxy, you will have to put aside your own wants for the needs of others. And as you train, you will find the strength within you to do so.”

Rey does not know what to say, but believes Luke. Still, she is at a loss- what is selfishness to her? What is selflessness to her? Unable to find a dividing line between the two, she decides to stop thinking about it for the time being.

THE two approach a cave, and as soon as Luke steps inside, he feels a sharp pain on his head, and winches from it. A strange, yet familiar, distorted voice calls to him. Rey asks him, “What’s wrong?” Luke replies, “Don’t worry about it.”

Rey is now holding her staff with her left hand, using it to help her stay upright. They walk further in, and at the end lies a sickly creature. It has thick antlers and blue, bushy hair blankets it. Its formerly large chest and legs are wasted away as it lies in a dim light, the only one illuminating the cave. Its hooves are chiseled and fragile. Rey gasps, and Luke turns worrisome.

Then, the creature speaks: “I have failed as a soul guardian. They have taken it all away from me. ”

Luke asks it, “Who did?”

“I could not see who took my powers, but I am ill because of those Mandalorians... after my power was stolen, the kyber crystal of Etilma’s defense system began firing erratically, and I tried to stop it. But I was weakened. The Mandalorians came and controlled me to do their bidding, using whatever power I had left to stop the kyber crystal from working.”

Luke replies, “You aren’t ill because of whoever took your powers away?”

“No... but without those powers, we are left defenseless, able to be attacked and subjected. They are taking it all from all of us.”

“Where are the other soul guardians?”

“Unfortunately, after my powers were stolen, I lost much of my memory too. I sense there are four others left, but do not know where. I do not remember much of my old self... or who I am...”

Rey and Luke look at each other in great distress. Then Rey tells it, “You have not failed. Whoever took your powers away hasn’t succeeded in disrupting all of the Force yet. We’re here to stop them.”

The beast replies, “Then, that is good to hear. All I remember is that I was to guard powerful soul objects. They managed to take many away from me, but I was able to hold onto one of the greatest of them all- and they do not know I still have it.”

Rey’s eyes widen. She softly says, “We will do all we can to stop them.”

The creature tells her, “I do not have much time left. I have spent the last of my life trying to protect it. But I cannot hold on much longer; I want to be free from this duress. Please... take it from me.”

Rey approaches the beast and places her hand on it. The ruby cube apparates above her hands, and a glowing energy seizes into the cave. A silent flash erupts throughout, and when Rey can see again, the creature is no longer there.

Luke tries to hide his sorrow, and can only say, “We did the right thing. It’s no longer suffering.”

They exit the cave, and peer into the distance, taking in all the green tops of tropical trees beneath the cliffs of the cave. Rey breaks the silence, “The number of poems in that chapter match the number of soul guardians left- four. But I only know the second halves of three poems. Maybe the Jedi didn’t want the wrong people to find these guardians.”

“Then we’ll have to use another way to find the rest. One of them could hold the key to reversing all of the damage.”

Rey nods, and is about to say something else, but stops herself. She can’t get the images of the Watchers out of her mind. After a moment, she gathers the courage to say, “Luke, back in the base. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What was it?” Luke asks.

But just then, Rey remembers that she let her surrogate down. Not wanting Luke to discover that she went against his teachings, she quickly tries to think of different topic, and another thought strikes her. “When you fought off those soldiers, you had to let down your surrogate, didn’t you?”

Luke tells her, “I had to do it to save you. I sensed that very soon, they were about to kill you. I was the only one who could get to you in time; I had no choice. But because the Watchers know where I am now, we’ll have to leave this planet very soon. Its defense systems are back, so they will have their formidable protection restored.”

Rey looks at Luke and replies, “I won’t put you in a place where you will have to do that ever again. You have my word.”

Rey leans on her staff with her left hand, and after adjusting her new metal hand, she succeeds in using it to grasp her staff, too.