Star Wars: Defiance

Four

Word Count: 4385

Rey returned to find her friends dispersed around the compact cellar. Her eyes found Leia's instantly, who was standing by a very stunned Maaryn, and she made her way over.

"General, we need to leave now." Rey held herself rigidly, ready to summon the stolen lightsaber into her hand.

Leia didn't look surprised, only solemn as if she had expected this. She nodded discretely and signaled to Poe to have everyone prepare to leave. She then turned to face Maaryn and said, "We thank you for your help. When the war is over, you will be rewarded."

"Leaving so soon?" Maaryn asked.

Her entourage pulled out First Order issued blasters and pointed them at the rebels. Their faces were stoic and expressionless. Rey had a hard time imagining Finn amongst them.

Rey and the rest of the Resistance members jumped into action, pulling out their own weapons and diving behind crates. Rey vaguely registered Connix ushering Leia out before she advanced on Maaryn, who had pulled out a lightsaber of her own.

The older woman shrugged off her cloak, which had turned red in the saber's light.

Rey decided that she had had enough of Kylo's Knights attack her today.

Rey snarled as she and Maaryn locked into an intense battle of sparks. Blaster fire echoed around them, but the two didn't dare break concentration.

"You should have surrendered," Maaryn aimed a swipe at her knees, "he's going to find you no matter where you hide."

Rey didn't respond. 

"When he wants something, he will get it. You have not experienced the power he poses-"

Rey cut her off with a smile. "Well, when he finds me, he better do it alone for lack of better help."

Anger sparked in the Force, and Maaryn pushed harder. She and Lynn were nothing like Snoke's Praetorian guards; they were stronger and more skilled—almost an even match for Rey.

Almost.

Rey noticed that Maaryn favored her left side, so that was where she quickly aimed a slash by sliding on the floor. It hit its mark, and half of the knight's leg was left simmering from a deep cut.

Maaryn fell to the ground, clutching her ignited saber in a vice-like grip. 

Rey took a moment to check on her friends; Finn and Poe were back-to-back, firing at the last two stormtroopers; Connix had returned and was firing her blaster beside Rose. Rey let out a breath—they were safe, at least for now.

That was until the tip of Maaryn's saber burned just above her ankle.

She cried out, pain flaring along her leg. It coursed through her veins and she channeled it into one final swipe at Maaryn, the blade puncturing her chest. The light faded from her eyes and her saber fell from her hand.

"I'm sorry," Rey whispered softly, only regretting the kill once Maaryn's saber was clipped to her belt. Maybe she should've had mercy, but no one had ever given her mercy back on Jakku.

She turned back to her friends, who had just finished up with the fight. They looked worse for wear but alive.

"We've got to hurry," Poe said, "there could be more of them. We need to leave, now."

. . .

They boarded the Falcon and entered hyperspace without any trouble; it seemed as if the Knights of Ren hadn't thought that they would need to bring back-up. It's not like Rey minded the ease of departing the muggy planet, it's just that it was unexpected for the First Order's finest.