2. Chapter 2

Rey stood and looked around. There was no remnant of the emperor—he had been utterly unmade by his own power. Only the machine that had sustained him all these years remained. The throne of the Sith had been thrown down by the rocks that had tumbled from the ceiling, pieces of the massive statues that had characterized the chamber, monuments to evil men and women that the Sith had worshiped.

Perhaps not evil, Rey thought. Perhaps only misguided, like I nearly was.

She glanced up at the open sky. The tide of the battle had clearly turned in the Resistance's favor, and her fear for them had dissipated. Her only responsibility now was to find a way to reunite with them, and to bring Ben with her. She knew she did not have the energy to restore his health like he had done for her—and more. Several of his bones were broken, and he was now in such a deep sleep that she doubted he could be roused for days. No, she would have to carry him out of here, and back to Luke's X-wing. She tried not to think how far of a journey it would actually amount to. She simply had to take it one step at a time.

The passage out of the chamber had been blocked when the statues had fallen. Now a pile of boulders lay in her way.

"Lifting rocks," Rey muttered to herself, not without humor. She didn't know if she had it in her to clear the entire passageway, but at least she could carve out a small path for herself and Ben to get through. She moved closer, planting her feet solidly on the ground, trying to convince herself that she wasn't compromised by her recent death and subsequent resurrection by her former enemy. No, she was merely Rey, and she could do this.

She closed her eyes, and instantly they were with her. The voices whispered in her ear as soon as she asked for them. Not like the long, frustrating silence that had stymied her for so many months of her training. She and the Force were one now, whether she liked it or not. And she liked it.

Rey reached out her hand. She could tell she was weakened, but the Force sprang up to meet her like an obedient animal, eager to please. The shapes of the rocks in front of her were as clear as ever. She moved forward with her senses, probing their forms, lifting and pushing until she had cleared a slender trail through the debris. She let the rocks tumble to the side and opened her eyes. She was sweating profusely—the task had been harder on her body than it had been on her mind. But it was done now, and the rest should just be a matter of finding her way out.

As she turned back to Ben, though, a shadow moved in the corner of her vision. A hooded figure approached, limping slightly. Rey's twin lightsabers leapt to her hands, igniting with a snap-hiss just as a red blade sprouted from the handle of the mysterious figure's own saber.

"Who are you?" she said.

"I am no one," came a low voice from within the hood. "I am everyone. I am those you just betrayed. The ones you should have ruled."

Perhaps not all of the Sith in the chamber had been crushed, Rey realized suddenly. Were there more out there, waiting to descend? She did not have the strength to deal with dozens of adversaries. But she did have the strength to deal with one.

"The emperor you served is dead," Rey said. "I am not your empress. You are free now."

"Free?" the Sith laughed. "The Dark Side is freedom, you foolish girl. And you destroyed your only way to reach it."

The dark figure attacked.