The stormtroopers closing in on Finn and Rey forced Finn to take them all on a detour through the base. A path that led out into the forest outside.

"We can find cover out there," said Finn, panting.

At last they came to the exit and rushed through. The cold hit Finn hard but he pressed onward. He could hear the battle raging in the distance, see x-wings engaging in dogfights wit the First order's own ships.

"Chewie can you hear me?" said Rey, speaking into her comm device. "Chewie I'm so sorry. General Solo didn't make it. If you have our location then please come get us. It's just Finn and me left."

Finn's heart trembled at the sound of Rey's voice breaking with sorrow. He remembered his first taste of battle. But he knew it could not compare to what Rey was experiencing. A girl who had not been conditioned from birth to face death and to bring it.

Up ahead there was movement. Finn quickly ducked behind a tree with Rey and set down the boy he was carrying. It was a First Order transport speeder. When Finn saw who it dropped off he went rigid with fear.

Kylo Ren stepped off with two purge troopers and a squad of soldiers. One was armed with a blaster rifle and the other twin shock batons.

"Take the boy and run Rey," said Finn. "I'll hold them off."

"No I'm not leaving you," said Rey firmly.

Finn sighed. "We can't take them all."

"Let me take this one," said Rey looking at him intensely in the eyes. "Trust me."

Before Finn could reply Rey stepped out from behind the tree and activated her electrostaff.

Kylo Ren signaled for his men to halt. He approached Rey alone.

"You feel hatred. Hatred over the death of Han Solo. It was the will of the force."

"The dark side," said Rey bitterly. "And so then with the will of the light I will strike you down."

Kylo Ren exhaled deeply. "And with that your destiny will be fulfilled."

The sith warrior shot out his hand and Rey ducked. But the force was not directed at her. The tree Finn was standing behind shattered and he was knocked to the side, slamming into the snow. The young boy fell from his hands.

"Finn!" Rey screamed. He did not move.

Kylo Ren ignited his lightsaber. Rey turned back to him and with a cry, charged. Her first swing was dodged as was her next two.

"No training," said Kylo Ren steadily. "Competent nonetheless."

Rey let loose a fury of strikes with her electrostaff. Despite her pouring in all her will into the fight, channeling all her emotions and calling desperately upon the Force, she knew she was out of her depth. The sith warrior's prowess completely eclipsed her own. He was a true master of the art.

"The Force guides your movements," said Kylo, deflecting another one of her blows with a casual flick of his saber. "Such talent must be nurtured...in the right hands. Had any other force sensitive person your age come against me armed, they would not have lasted half as long as you have."

Rey still knew she was losing the fight. Perhaps she had lost before it even began. And she was alone. Han Solo was dead, the republic forces occupied, and Finn lay behind her in the snow with the boy they rescued. She didn't even know if they were still alive. Her concentration was all over the place. She couldn't focus enough to feel for their life force.

"Someone help me," she thought, reaching out across the planet with her feelings.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Kylo Ren smashed the staff from her weakened grasp. Weaponless, Rey fell to her knees.

"And now your journey with me begins," said Kylo Ren, reaching out to grab her.

The purge troopers behind him gave a yelp and with a bang the speeder they arrived in was flung to the side, slamming into a tree.

Rey noticed a woman coming up from behind Kylo Ren. She was gripping a blue lightsaber and moved like a blur, weaving between the First Order soldiers and cutting them down. In a flash it was over. Kylo Ren's men lay still in the snow and the petite General Leia Organa Skywalker Solo stood over them, lightsaber at the ready. Her look of fury directed towards Kylo Ren.

"Long have I trained for this moment," said Kylo Ren, his attention diverted towards General Organa. "A Jedi worthy of my blade."

He flourished his lightsaber and took a step towards her. "And you are a Jedi. Your husband is dead. You have learned to control your hatred.

"Han is ten times the man you are," said Leia. "He is still with me."

Without another word Kylo advanced on Leia as Rey watched helpless. Seizing her chance she rushed to Finn's side. He was still alive, she could feel his pulse and breathing. She couldn't carry both the child and Finn out of the cold forest alone though.

"Chewie where are you?" said Rey into the comm device. There was no reply and so she rested Finn's head in her lap and watched on as the duel between the elderly general and Kylo Ren raged.

Like the sith warrior, Leia was a master with the lightsaber. Even for a woman of her age and size, she moved with such grace. The first female Jedi to be raised since the purge long ago. The heiress to the Skywalker legacy gave the sith warrior the challenge he sought and more. They fought like no others could fight. Two warriors guided and aided by the Force complemented by years of training and accumulated knowledge.

Even from a distance Rey could feel the dark side surging in Kylo Ren as he attempted to attack the general with the Force. Leia's own force power met his midway and the mix of snow and dirt from the ground exploded all around them.

"By the grace of the Force I was not destined to meet you in combat in your younger years," said Kylo. "I would be dead on the cold ground beneath us had it been so."

"A pity that it wasn't so," said Leia right before she re-engaged him.

Their sabers moved with such speed that it was impossible to follow their technique with an untrained eye. A brilliant yet deadly light show that held Rey on edge. General Organa was fighting her hardest, there was no doubt about that yet as they fought on Rey began to realize she could not overcome the sith warrior. They were just too evenly matched.

Kylo Ren broke off and took two steps back. "You wish to save the girl, the boy, and her friend the traitor. But despite setting aside your hatred you know that if you let me walk away, you will never be the one to make me answer for Han Solo's death."

"The Jedi will not be manipulated," said Leia firmly. "The words of the sith are like poison to the galaxy."

"The First Order with its flagship is on its way to reinforce this very base," Kylo continued. "And you must decide. I feel the conflict within you. If you cannot make the choice then I will make it for you."

To Rey's surprise, Kylo Ren deactivated his lightsaber and began to run in the other direction, using the Force to fling snow at General Organa, temporarily distracting her.

Rey felt herself fly forward through the air toward Kylo Ren, Finn, and the young boy both flying at her side.

"No!" General Organa cried. Rey stopped midair as did her unconscious companions. Kylo Ren was fighting Leia for possession of the three of them while also holding back Leia's force powers that tried to stop him from getting away. Rey felt like the skin from her face was being pulled apart.

"You will kill them if you continue this struggle," said Kylo Ren.

Rey could feel Leia's desperation and so she reached out with her feelings. "You are not alone here general."

Pulling herself together, Rey let loose the force at Kylo Ren, breaking his hold on them while also pushing her companions away. They fell through the air, Leia using the force to stop them for a brief moment just before they hit the ground.

"You won't take any more of us!" Rey screamed. Using the force to pull her staff towards her she charged at Kylo Ren one more time. Kylo Ren blocked her first two strikes then disarmed her with ease. Gathering her resolve and fury she unleashed the Force on her opponent just as the jagged energy blade of the lightsaber arced up towards her face.

Hot searing pain took her and she fell back just as Kylo himself was blown away.

Rey could not move and she knew in that moment that for her, the fight was over for good.

"Hold on Rey," said General Organa, kneeling beside her.

Kylo Ren appeared over a rise in the snow before the two of them. Before he could act though blaster bolts bombarded them, forcing him to deflect.

The angry cry of a wookie filled Rey's ears. After Kylo Ren had been driven back out of sight, Rey found herself being surrounded by republic troopers.

"I'm going with Chewie back to the Falcon," said General Organa. "You boys take her."

"We'll begin treating her immediately," said one of the troopers.

Rey hadn't noticed it a moment before but something was off with her vision. She felt nothing but pain on the left side of her head. The nauseating smell of burning flesh was overwhelming.

"My eyes...." Rey stammered, as she was put on a stretcher.

"Give her a sedative before the shock wears off," said a trooper.

Rey barely felt the pinch of the needle right before they injected something into her. The forest around her began to fade away.

"The Force is with you Rey," came the distant voice of General Organa in her head.

Darkness took her.