"I lie awake and watch it all; It feels like thousand eyes" - Thousand Eyes by Of Monsters and Men
"And that brings us to yesterday's encounter. Green Squadron intercepted two supply ships that turned out to be more heavily armed than we thought. They tried to take the supplies for us, but we lost a pilot before Commander Seastriker pulled them out."
The young officer cleared his throat uncomfortably, the blue holo of the deceased pilot flickering behind him. General Organa leaned forward, tapping a datapad. "Do we know where those supply ships were coming and going?"
The officer nervously glanced at his own datapad. "Coming from Thabeska. They were intercepted by the Roche asteroid field, so they could've be going anywhere in the trade route."
Organa nodded slowly, the screen of her datapad reflecting in her eyes as she flicked through the information. "Thank you, Lieutenant. We will advise the fleet with this information."
The officer nodded and gave a nervous little salute before nearly tripping himself as he left the room. The higher ranked officers around the table leaned back in their chairs, muttering among themselves before one tapped his own datapad. The blue holo shuddered before displaying a map of the trade route. "They could've been going to Quermia. It's just past that asteroid field they were caught near. If they were that heavily armed." He paused and looked around the table conspiratorially. "I doubt it was just a supply run."
Another, a Nemoidian, nodded sagely. "A rescue mission."
Rey leaned forward to make eye contact with the Nemoidian, trying to make herself look as much like a powerful Force user as possible. "To rescue whom, Colonel? There are no First Order prisoners on the Quermia base."
The room fell silent, and Rey nearly thought her unspoken threat had worked when she barely caught a murmur. "Ren."
Those who had personally fought against Kylo Ren stiffened and exchanged looks. Others who had fought with him in the Resistance's most successful battle on Chandrila shook their heads and leaned forward to join Rey's stare. She took a slow breath through her nose, trying to remember Luke's words to calm herself before speaking. "As a few of your esteemed colleagues mentioned before Ren was even stationed at Quermia, he has proven himself in battle for us. The Knights of Ren are gone because of him, giving us an easier path to a weakened First Order."
The Nemodian's skin seemed to tighten across his skull. "So he says."
"You doubt the combined Force powers of Master Skywalker and Rey?" Poe Dameron leaned forward, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "The mystical mumbo-jumbo may be weird and incomprehensible to many of us, but they both confirm that the Knights of Ren are no longer present in the Force." He cleared his throat and nodded at General Organa. "As does our general who we know and trust to lead us in this war."
A thick silence hung in the air.
Rey curled her hands into fists and pulled slow breaths through her nose. Her lightsaber hung invitingly at her hip, calling for her to activate it in a display of power to those who doubted Kylo Ren's loyalties, over a year after he had defected from the First Order.
She chewed her inner lip. A display of power would have worked nicely against other scavengers on Jakku, but not in a room already mistrustful of Force users.
An officer sitting at the end of the long table cleared her throat and tapped a datapad, making the blue holo at the front of the room change its display to an inventory list. She tossed long, blonde hair that had a few spots of black grease tangled among the strands over her shoulder. "Since that discussion is over. Someone tracked in Coruscant granite slugs that've taken to munching on exterior durasteel of the Y-wings."
A few of the pilots around the table gave nervous smiles and began teasing each other about who brought the slugs in. Rey slipped out of the conference room, grinding her teeth together as she stalked down the hall.
Those kriffing meetings were tedious. They could just send out a briefing to those who needed it; it was a waste of time to get everyone in a room so that they could just end up arguing more often than not about Kylo Ren. An argument that had been supposedly settled for a year. They could be doing much more important things, like winning a war.
A part of her screamed to just return to her AT-AT. She had never wanted to be in a conflict, let alone somehow become a major player. Stars, she could even smuggle preserved food from the base's kitchens to keep herself fed for years. But despite her instincts telling her to look out for herself, the past year had shown her that she had the power to help others, not to mention with a lightsaber in hand, it would be much too easy to scare off other scavengers and Plutt himself. And she liked a challenge.
Rey's feet carried her down the familiar halls without direction from her conscious thought. She passed the room where she and Luke had meditated every morning before he went off to find the secrets of Snoke. Two corners and another long hall made her slow, and she paused by the room where Ren, in cuffs, had given all the information he knew on the First Order to the highest-ranked members of the Resistance.
Ren.
She covered her mouth with her fingertips and moved away from the room. She still woke in the dark of night with the feel of his lips on hers after their first and only kiss. The look on his face, the crackle in the Force as he had allowed the Light Side into his heart during battle.
She was standing in front of an X-wing. The viewport hinged perpendicular in the air, and Rey's hands were pulling her up and into the cockpit before the rational side of her mind could stop her. Her fingers flipped automatically through the startup sequences, and she barely heard the shout from some mechanic before she coaxed the ship a few meters in the air and out the hangar.
A small voice yelled from the headpiece hanging from a small hook by her knee. She ripped its connecting wire out of the dashboard and punched the ship into hyperspace the moment she left the atmosphere. The stars blurred through the viewport, and she watched them race past, suddenly aware of her heart thudding in her chest. Her rational mind finally wrestled back control as she leaned back against the backrest.
Kriff.
She had stolen a starfighter. Granted, as a Force-user, she had more access than most of the Resistance officers did to ships, but she still needed to notify General Organa of her movements so that the fleet and Resistance pockets throughout the galaxy could coordinate strikes. She would be shipped out to another base with no hope of even talking with Ren.
The comm system blinked, and a blue holo flickered to life on her left. Poe frowned at her, his image blinking several times as the system struggled to stay connected to a starfighter flying hundreds of lightyears per minute. "Rey? What're you doing? You're scheduled to raid the Geonosis base tomorrow."
Rey's finger hovered over the button to shut off the comm system. "I-I'll be back tomorrow morning in time for the launch."
"As much as I hate to admit it, sleeping is a thing we humans should do instead of flying a ship all night," Poe answered in a dry tone. His tongue flicked over his lips. "Look, come back in a few minutes, and I'll just log this as a 'Jedi needed some literal space' thing."
"See you tomorrow morning, Poe." The comm system shut down with a click. Rey shifted in the seat and took a deep breath, adjusting her grip on the controls.
Stars, she hated how her every movement was watched. Plutt had been bad enough on Jakku, but that had only been when she was in the outpost. The Resistance knew when she slept, ate, ran through her lightsaber exercises, even when she relieved herself. She just wanted a few hours to herself without thousands of eyes checking to see if Ren's influence had pulled her to the Dark Side.
Her hands stayed clenched around them for the few hours it took for the Starfighter to travel through space and enter the atmosphere of Quermia.
The green and purple of the planet's landscape flew by as she flew toward her destination. Rey's hands relaxed stiffly, and she peered through the viewport to watch the vegetation.
The navigational system gave a soft blip, and Rey slowed the ship as she neared the Quermia Resistance Base. The landing gear lowered with a flip of a switch, and her stomach smacked into the controls when the ship hit the ground in a pertinent display of how not to land a Starfighter gracefully. The viewport flipped open, and she jumped onto the cracked permacrete that passed for the base's landing pad.
She half-walked, half-ran to the base and nearly pushed over a long-necked Quermian dressed in a dark green uniform. He blinked down at her, his red eyes finding the lightsaber clipped to her belt. "Oh. Ah. We weren't expecting anyone…"
"Yeah. Uh. I won't be long." Rey cleared her throat and started down the hall. "Just. Ah. Jedi business, you know."
She walked down the nearest hall. The low level of Force sensitivity of the Resistance members hummed around her as she focused, but she could not feel the presence she wanted. The other half of a bond formed in battle.
Laughter and loud voices drifted from an open door down the hall, and the sounds of utensils scraping against trays and clattering on tables became clearer. Her stomach grumbled, but she brushed aside the feeling. She was used to hunger, and she was there for him, not food.
"Rey."
He stood by the open doorway leading to a brightly lit room. His arms crossed over his chest, and the sleeves of his too-small white shirt stretched across his left bicep and clung to the silver of his right. The real hand clutched a hydrospanner. A few strands of his dark hair had escaped a tie and fell haphazardly over his ear.
Kylo.
She closed the space between them in almost a run, but he held up the hand with the hydrospanner before she could wrap her arms around him. He tilted his head to the side, and Rey looked up to see a holocam positioned near the ceiling. "They don't like when I touch people."
"Try to stop me." Her arms slid around Kylo's middle, and he bent to kiss her briefly.
The corner of his mouth twitched into a half-smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I…" Her fingers tapped the saber at her hip, and his eyes dropped to them. She felt his longing in the Force, his frustration, his loneliness. "There was… this supply shuttle that we intercepted, and Quermia's on the route that it was going on, and people were starting to accuse you, and I just… couldn't take it anymore, and I just wish they could sense the Force, and – "
He cut her off with his lips over hers again. For a blissful five seconds, they kissed as if they needed each other's lips to survive until he strangled a cry and dropped to the floor. The phantom shock raced through Rey, and although it did not knock her down, she dropped to her knees next to Kylo.
He looked dazed, and he blinked up at her rapidly. He let a short laugh. "And I thought they got angry when I just touched people."
Rey's eyes found the cuff around his ankle. A red light blinked quickly. She reached out to brush Kylo's hair out of his face but stopped just centimeters before she touched his skin. "I thought you weren't a prisoner."
Kylo sat up slowly, rubbing his real hand over the side of his head. "Well. I'm not locked in one room, but they keep track of where I am, make sure I don't attack someone, or get too friendly with an oh-so-scary handshake. You know, all the freedoms of a regular person."
His eyes rolled, and Rey snorted before shaking her head. "It's been over a year since you took down that general and surrendered to Organa. I think at this point, you would've already betrayed us if you intended to."
Kylo grunted and rubbed his shoulder where his own flesh ended and the durasteel of his arm began. "I deserve it. I just wish I could help more than fixing old R2 units."
He waved the hydrospanner in the air with a scowl. Rey let out a slow breath and shifted to cross her legs. "Why can't –"
"Ren. What are you doing?" A tall Twi'lek with deep red skin that clashed horribly with his orange pilot's uniform stormed down the hall. He glared at Kylo, barely glancing in Rey's direction. "We asked you to fix the non-functional droids."
Kylo frowned up at the Twi'lek, his fingers adjusting their grip on the hydrospanner. "Just recovering from a… shock, Commander."
"Yes, for-for kissing a- ah." The Twi'lek glanced at Rey and did a double take. "Jedi Rey?" His tone and stance shifted as he looked between them. "I – We didn't know you were coming."
"No." Rey got to her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. "You didn't. I felt called by the Force to come here, and since I don't have a mission until tomorrow, I decided to heed it." The Twi'lek opened his mouth to argue, but Rey dropped a hand to her lightsaber. "I'll be leaving in a few hours, but in the meantime I'm afraid I'll need Ren's services."
The Twi'lek's lips twisted in a scowl before he nodded. "Fine. But Ren is a probationary member of this base. He is not allowed outside and is surveilled at all times."
Rey exchanged a look with Kylo before nodding once. "All right. But he is allowed to touch me without a kriffing shock. Stars, that's completely ridiculous. I'll let you know when I leave, Commander."
The Twi'lek nodded and hesitated for a moment before turning and walking back the direction he came. He turned a corner, and Kylo's low laugh grew in volume until Rey felt her own escape her lips. "What?"
He got to his feet and shook his head, shoving the hydrospanner in his pocket so that a fourth of the tool stuck out against his hip. "That's the first time I've seen him speechless." Kylo took her hand with his real one and led her down the hall. "Come on. I know a place where we can talk."
He kept a tight hold on her hand and turned several corners before slowing at a dead end. His thumb jammed a button, and a door creaked as it slid open, revealing an empty slab of permacrete outside. Beyond that, tall trees with leaves swayed in the breeze. Rain fell in a sheet and created puddles in the permacrete's cracks. Although Rey had seen rain on Ahch-to, she still marveled at how water just readily fell from the sky. She stepped out with her hand raised, feeling a childish smile pull at her mouth.
She glanced back at Kylo to pull him out and paused as he lingered by the doorway. He gave a bitter smile and gestured to his ankle where the cuff blinked steadily. He slid to the floor just at the edge of the doorway and pulled his knees to his chest. Her hand hit her leg as it dropped, and she left the gentle patter of raindrops against her skin to sit next to him.
The bitterness faded from Kylo's smile, and he took her hand once again. "It's been a year, you know."
Rey stared uncomprehendingly at Kylo. "A year since…?"
"Since we've… been together." He looked out the door, chewing on his lower lip. "I mean, if you count the six months since I've been here."
"Of course I do." She leaned her head against his shoulder, just as she had done the night he had confessed his feelings for her. She much preferred the sound of rain to the yelling of almost every high-ranking Resistance officer over what to do with Kylo. She could sense his happiness at her being there, although his mind raced with indistinguishable thoughts.
Kylo reached into his pocket and pulled out two smooth stones, one a deep black and the other nearly pure white. "I can't buy anything for you, unless you like the cold caf here, so I've been smoothing these out." He held them out to her, his nervousness settling into her own stomach. "I'm sorry it's not more, but – "
Rey leaned forward and kissed the side of his face. "It's perfect." She examined the white stone, turning it over in his hand. "I think you should have this one. That way we have us with each other even when we're not together."
A rare, full smile spread across face, and he took the white stone carefully. "I like that idea."
They fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the rain fall as they examined the stones.
She blinked at looked up at him as a thought crossed her mind. "Why couldn't I sense you when I got here?"
Kylo pulled in a slow breath and turned his real arm to show her a red portion of his skin in the crook of his elbow. A few dots, some more healed than others, littered the red. "Snoke. It's why the main base was attacked so quickly when I was there. He can feel where I am in the Force." He turned his arm over again and picked at the glove that covered the cybernetic hand. "I've been drugging myself so he can't find me here."
A prickle of unease ran through Rey. "But we were on the same base for months before you came here."
Kylo shrugged. "I think he used his last big firepower to attack, and he was recovering from the loss of Hux." The hand picking at the glove froze, and the hairs rose on the back of Rey's neck. "I was supposed to give myself another dose just after you came. I need – "
The scream of warning alarms drowned his words, and they both jumped to their feet as the roar of TIE fighters preceded the explosion of shots.
"They're here."