42. That was her number. Now with the resistance, 42 must cover her past life which proves difficult when she cannot tell her true name. And that Dameron guy . . . He needs to stop asking questions.
Follows The Rise of Skywalker
"I am mechanically incapable of speaking Sith translations," 3-PO protested. "I believe the rule was first passed when . . ."
A snake-like entity emerged from the darkness of the tunnel and rose to its full height. The worm towered above us, its teeth barred.
It let out a roar causing the lot of us to take cover behind Rey.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Serpent! Serpent! Serpent!" 3-PO yelled.
I cocked my rifle and took aim. Poe raised his pistol.
Rey, as if entranced by the snake, put her hand over the barrel of my gun and lowered it. I looked at her like she was crazy. Rey then lowered Poe's pistol and Finn's blaster. She passed Finn her lightsaber then moved forward towards the creature.
"Rey . . ." Finn breathed nervously.
The creature hissed as Rey came nearer. She stepped over one of its coils delicately.
"I'm gonna blast it," Poe whispered dangerously. He aimed his pistol at the snake, trying to keep his hand from shaking.
"Don't blast it," Finn warned.
Rey now knelt down and touched her palm to the creature. She was healing it.
The snake blinked as if in thanks then moved back down the tunnel, the last of its armored tail disappearing. It knocked down a wall of sand allowing light to flood the tunnel for the first time perhaps in a long time.
BB-8 rolled over and chirped at the girl.
"I just transferred a bit of life . . . Force energy from me to him," Rey explained to the little droid.
We emerged into the heat of the day, taking the Sith dagger with us.
Rey looked out across the desert.
I could hear the faintest sound of a ship echo over the canyon walls. It sounded like a TIE. Whatever it was, it was moving closer at a rapid speed.
I decided to go inside Ochi's ship and assumed Rey would be following.
Poe sat at the wheel, flipping switches and dusting things off. He noticed Rey through the the window.
"What is she doing?" Dameron mumbled. "Where the hell's Chewy?"
I shrugged.
The sound of the TIE was now right on us.
"It's Ren," Finn realized and ran out of the ship.
Through the window, I saw Rey activate her lightsaber.
Still nobody had explained to me who this Ren was. I decided to go see for myself.
"42," Poe caught me on the shoulder before I could leave. He looked me so set in the eyes that for a moment I thought he could see through my visor. "Be careful."
I shrugged his hand off and continued outside.
Rey took a stance, shoving her foot backwards and her hand down into the sand. She looked like she was going to run.
The TIE was now a few seconds away.
She began sprinting at full speed.
"Hey! Now is not the time to be 'playing chicken' with a TIE!" I yelled out to her.
Rey kept running, her ignited saber waving wildly in her hand.
The TIE was coming in so low it began skimming the sand.
She's going to get herself killed, I thought.
At the last moment, she jumped. Rey went sailing over the TIE as it barreled under her.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Using her saber, she sliced off one wing, then gracefully flipped back over and landed in a kneel.
"Holy—" I breathed.
The TIE came crashing down. Both wings now detached and the pilot's cab rolled out across the desert. It ended at an exposed rock where it exploded in a grandiose display of fire.
Finn came running out into the open. "Rey! Rey!" He pointed to a ship taking off. "They got Chewy!"
Rey held out her hand, concentrating. The ship that had been taking off stopped in its path, pulled by an unseen force.
Along the horizon, a dark cloaked figure emerged from the TIE crash. I could only assume this was infamous "Ren" they all had been talking about.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He too outstretched a hand towards the ship. But Ren was pushing the ship away.
I'd had enough of these Jedi tricks or whatever you want to calm them. I cocked my rifle in Ren's direction, taking aim towards his foot so he'd loose his grip on the ship.
I didn't know if my acquaintances would want him alive or not.
I pulled the trigger.
For a moment, the blast from my rifle remained suspended in midair just feet from my gun. Ren had his grip on not only the ship but the blast too. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the shot back in my direction.
The blast was hot as it hit me; it grazed right past the side of my neck.
