Hux walks through the First Order base, and into an industrial room, where the Aquilian is nearly complete. Since Kylo is still unconscious, he has temporarily assumed command. His subordinates report to him, “Sir, our spies saw an X-wing leave Inimoni and head towards Tatoonie.”

“Then we will set another trap there.”

Serei walks by, and laughs. “Pff, she’ll never fall for another trap like that again.”

“You insolent pest! I’ll have you-”

“Geez, I didn’t think anyone could be less intimidating than Whinelo.” She pops some sort of snack in her mouth and struts away. Fuming, Hux murmurs, “I’ll show her what real power is.” He faces an engineer, “Is this weapon operational?”

“It can’t do even one-hundreth of what it should do at full power. If we had both crystals, it would not only be highly maneuverable, but it can take out several planets in an instant. But it works. There are shards of the crystal lodged within its circuits.” He brings up a diagram of the inner workings.

Hux inspects it and asks, “Why are all these shards clustered together?”

“When they’re in the circuits, they combine with the other materials and somehow are all attracted to each other.”

Hux thinks for a moment. “So... what you’re saying is it’d attract all jade kyber crystals towards it? Even the ones now in that girl’s lightsaber?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“Then set course for Tatoonie. I have a plan.”

“Sir, we have been testing for compatible pilots. Shall I-”

“No. I will pilot it.”

“Y-you? Sir-”

“Did I stutter? I want your team to show me how to harness the true power of the Aquilian!”

IT’S been several days since Merilia was given the records to crack. Finn waits around twiddling his thumbs. And then, there is a crackling on his transmitter.

“I’ve almost got it,” Merilia says, “I also found it hasn’t been tampered with. But there’s one part that I can’t crack using my Unravel. I’ll send what I have over; I’ve put the remaining portion in a new format that’s droids friendly, so maybe that old droid you guys have can do it.”

“HQ-7? I’m not so sure about that...”

“We don’t have a choice. I’m sending the files now.” But suddenly, a loud voice yells, “Hey! What are you doing?”

“They shouldn’t be back so soon!” Merilia whispers. Her results are nearly sent over. But then it’s cut off. The guard yells, “What’s all this? A transmitter? Have you been continuing to spy on us? Give me that!”

Just before they confiscate the transmitter, Merilia stops the transfer to prevent them from tracing back to Finn. “Merilia!” Finn shouts. But the transmission ends.

REY walks through a town, asking for information about the ceremonial farms. But no one has a lead. She tries to find anyone who knows Litha, but no one knows who she is, either. A day has already passed, and it is morning. Just then, Rey hears a voice: “Merilia’s been discovered. They took the records! I need your help to find a way to get to them.”

“Finn, it’s too risky!”

“Just listen to me. Remember those soul worlds you told me about? They’re how each living being sees the Force. I have a strong feeling that Merilia’s ‘Unravel’ uses the Force to extract the records’ data. So whatever she got could be in her soul world, and I can seal it within a soul artifact!”

“That’s so insane! I don’t even have time to teach you all that now!”

“What are you even up to? We have to do this for the Resistance!”

“I need to save this girl who’s about to be killed!”

Finn exhales with exhaustion. “It won’t take long. Just give me an hour.”

“A- an hour?” Rey throws her hands up in the air. “I’m actually insulted. Do you know how long it took me to learn all this after my powers were taken away?”

“You saw how I could Force project. Something weird is going on with me. Just give me a chance.”

Rey sighs. “Fine. Just an hour. Nothing more.”

And within just one hour, Finn learned it all.

Rey is pouting. “I can’t believe it. Patience, Luke, really?”

“So, I’ve been thinking, what happens if someone dies in the soul world?” Finn asks.

“I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Well, I guess that’s not worth thinking about either,” Finn says. “If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

Rey sighs again. “Finn...” Their transmission ends.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

IN the isolated chamber, Finn starts to meditate. It’s incredibly difficult. Faint images vibe through, and then disappear. He keeps on trying to hold onto them, but they slip away. “C’mon,” he whispers to himself. And then, a spark kicks off. Suddenly, a whole realm of paths pushes itself into Finn’s mind, ballooning outwards with incredible acceleration. Before him is a winding maze of bridges. Finn looks at his hands. It’s not a dream- it feels real. He’s not in the Resistance ship anymore. He’s found his whole self in this other world.

ON Tatoonie, Rey feels drained and hopeless. She’s asked everywhere, but nothing is helping her. She walks into a cantina, and sits down at a booth, tired. Unexpectedly, someone in rags comes up next to her.

“Pst,” the shady woman whispers. Rey looks up. The shady woman whispers again, “The name’s Maggie. I heard you were looking for a young blonde girl named Litha?”

Rey perks up, “Yes! You know where she is?”

“She’s at a ceremonial farm at these coordinates. Follow me.”

REY, Luke and their droids follow Maggie in a landspeeder through a mountain pass, and emerge to see a ceremonial farm off in the distance. Surrounding it is a village, but no one is outside of their homes. Looming over everything are three large figures, as big as Destroyers. The Deira. There are rocky cliffs all around them, and below is a quaint meadow, a blight that has attached itself onto the desert land, with guards all around, forming a fence around the meadow. Rey lies down on her front, looks through binoculars, and sees that inside of the circle are hundreds upon hundreds of children. And then she sees her: Litha. She shuts her eyes, and feels Litha is trying to ask the Force to save her. The young girl whispers, “Please save me. I believe in you.” Rey tries to answer back, not knowing if Litha can hear her, “It will always be with you. I promise.”

She whispers in a transmitter, “Viq, we found her. Are the Incendiaries ready?”

Viq answers, “We’re all set. Heading towards your coordinates. Can you send us visuals?”

Rey sends the visuals, and Viq says, “Oh... this is not good.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You see that?” Rey looks further, and in the distance are gigantic walking machines, and scores of starfighters. Viq continues, “We’re completely outmatched. There’s no way we’re getting past those barriers. And there’s three Deira.”

“What about them?”

“They’re not fighters, they’re creators and gardeners. But if our troops get near them, they’ll be trapped in trances. This is one of the most fortified farms I’ve ever seen.”

“We have to try!” Suddenly, she feels a hand on her shoulder. Luke whispers to Rey, “Do you sense that?”

Rey gets up, focuses, and feels it too. “Can it really be? The last remaining soul object?”

“This is definitely not just a coincidence anymore. And there’s someone else here.”

Rey concentrates even harder, and notices something along the mountain. She whispers, “It’s heading towards the soul object. It’s almost there.”

“That must be whoever is taking these powers away; we have to stop it before it gets to the most important soul object!”

“But we need to get to Litha!” Rey shouts, “Viq said they need as much help as they can get. You have to help them!”

“I want to save her too. But even with all of us combined, we don’t stand a chance- if we go in, not only can we not save them, but they’ll kill all of us. We have to make hard decisions. Those sacrifices have gone on for years; even if we somehow stop this one, they’ll still be more. We have to focus on what we actually can change.”

“You’re just letting her die? How could you?”

“I’m trying to save the whole galaxy!” Luke pauses, and feels the entity moving even closer near the soul object. “There’s no more time. We have to go.” He turns around.

“Luke. LUKE!” Rey shouts. She can’t believe it. Was this the man she looked up to? A man who would just let a child die? She wastes no time running down the cliffs. She has to get to Litha. From behind her, Maggie slyly grins.

FINN walks through the dream-like world. “How do I find the right bridge again?” he says to himself. Before he can figure it out, he feels that someone else is there. It’s trying to find him. From afar, he sees something with a monstrous mask and a suit of armor. “Who is that?” Finn whispers to himself. But he has no time for any questions. He’s spotted

Finn tries to turn back, but the armored stalker chases him in pursuit, hellbent on hunting him down. Finn follows a bridge into a portal and jumps into it, and a voice calls out to him, “Go there; you will find help.” He emerges in someone’s soul world. There are starfighters everywhere, fighting against an opposing enemy force. One lands next to him, and from it emerges Poe.

“Poe?” Finn exclaims.

“I’m Poe Dameron, hero of the Resistance. You in trouble?” The Poe lookalike doesn’t recognize him at all. Then Finn looks around him. He’s in Juri. The starfighters are attacking Jurials, who are shouting, “Down with the Resistance!” Then it dawns on him- he’s not in Poe’s world. He’s in Yatu’s.

“Poe, someone’s chasing after me. I need your help escaping and getting to Merilia’s world.”

“I got your back!” the Poe cognition exclaims. Just then, the armored stalker appears behind him. Finn hops in the starfighter, and the Poe cognition takes off. Finn looks around, “How do I get from here to another world?”

Cognition Poe answers, “You have to look for a portal somewhere. Where is it...” Then he spots it and points. “We’re flying towards that!” The starfighter accelerates. But just behind it, an enemy starfighter has emerged. The armored stalker is inside.

HUX lies in wait inside of the Aquilian. He speaks into a transmitter, “I see her coming. The trap worked after all. And the Sera will be given all the Xin they want.” He is seized with utmost pride.

He hears someone talk back, “Why’d we even need a trap? Can’t we just ambush her?” It’s Serei.

Annoyed, Hux yells, “We have to make sure she’s armed and ready for combat! That way, she would have her lightsaber with her!”

Hailden replies, “It would be quite foolish for someone to part with their lightsaber.”

Serei rolls her eyes, “No one EVER leaves it behind. Hux, you really don’t know anything about the Force.”

“Silence!” He looks back to still see Rey running towards them. But then, she pauses. Something is wrong.

REY senses a strange presence. She thinks back to Maggie, trying to remember how she talked to her. She seemed suspicious, and then, she notices her mannerisms were off. Like those phantom assassins she saw. Was she one in disguise? Rey then peers into the distance, and closes her eyes. It’s not just Tatoonie ships. More lie in wait- including two generals whose presence she’s felt before. The First Order is here.

Rey speaks into her transmitter, “Viq, you can’t go through the planned route. The First Order is here and they’re working with the Sera. You’ll have to take an alternate direction, you can surprise them better that way.”

IN the Aquilian, Hux fumes. “Why is she stopping?”

Hailden replies, “She must have discovered that it’s a trap.”

Hux fumes, “Damn it!”

“You do know she’s alone.” Serei says, “You can attack her right there.”

Hux shakes his fist. “If she discovered us, she must have a counter trap.”

Serei says, “I think you’re overthinking this.”

Hux pauses for a moment, and then screams, “Damn it. DAMN. All soldiers, fire upon that girl!”

From the distance, ships begin to emerge. They loom higher and higher. Rey steps back, and begins to run. But the ships just come too fast. “FIRE!” Hux screams. Just as they’re about to get close enough, something shoots them down. Starfighters have arrived to save her. It’s the Incendiaries.

Rey ignites her double bladed lightsaber and charges in, a lone warrior. Hux readies the Aquilian. In the darkness, there is a sleekness lining it, but it is hard to see. The weapon roars, ready to battle. And then it emerges from the shadows.