"Comfortable?"
The distorted voice belonged to the masked Kylo Ren. Poe has started to come to his senses. He's tied down, wrists and ankles, in an interrogation room. Interrogation. The First Order and the Resistance had very different ideas on what that meant. Poe is groggy. That can't mean anything good. He could feel patches of thick blood all over his face, and a lick of his lips proved that to him. And while he could stomach the various pains, it wasn't helping him feel comfortable, that's for sure.
"Not really."
Kylo Ren stands before him, a creature of darkness cloaked from head to foot in black robes and shielded by an impersonal mask concealing any trace of the human beneath. The galaxy fears him and speaks of his many atrocities on behalf of the First Order. Poe knows them all too well. Ren's reputation would intimidate him, but they didn't call Poe the most daring pilot of the Resistance for nothing.
"I'm impressed," says the masked man. "No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map."
Poe is less impressed. In fact, Poe had come to expect his current fate. He'd be more afraid, but the General made it very clear what he was in for when she ordered this mission. And, honestly, Poe would have done anything for the General and the cause.
"Might want to rethink your technique."
Poe flinches the instant Kylo Ren raises his hand. Though they never touch physically, through Kylo Ren's fingers, a searing probe enters Poe's mind and it takes everything he has in him to mentally shield the force-user. He knows it's no use fighting - Kylo Ren's strength is well beyond Poe's defenses - but still he tries.
"Where is it?"
Poe's mind puts up a hefty defense, but Kylo Ren doesn't want to fight and he doesn't have to. Kylo Ren could find the information he needs and be done with this, but he tries to give Poe a shred of dignity. Perhaps the invasion will humble him into submission. He'd rather Poe just give him the information willingly than to take it from him forcefully, but Kylo will do whatever is necessary and without remorse.
Poe struggles to respond and hold up the mental barrier. "The Resistance… will not be intimidated… by you."
Fine. If that's how the pilot wants to play it, Kylo can play along too. Another forceful probing knocks Poe off balance.
"Where… is it?"
Kylo is through playing nicely. He advances towards the strapped down pilot and his probing hand shakes in front of Poe's battered face. Through the force, Kylo rifles through memories, acquired knowledge, and thoughts but what he needs is behind the mental barrier Poe puts up. With a painful thrust, Poe screams as Kylo breaks through and retrieves what he is looking for.
The hiss of the cell door announces Kylo Ren's arrival to the occupants of the hallway outside the interrogation room. Clad in a pressed black suit but topped with sleek red hair is General Hux, anxiously awaiting Ren's news. However, the General has never felt anything remotely kind toward Leader Snoke's pet pit bull and certainly won't start now.
"It's in a droid. A BB unit." Ren's callous, distorted voice announces.
"Well then. If it's on Jakku, we'll soon have it." Hux replies, every word slathered in pretentious confidence. It gives Ren a headache.
"Leave that to me," Ren says and begins to stride away.
Hux's entire face scrunches in confusion. "You?"
Kylo Ren halts several feet ahead of the General, irritated to have to speak to him any further. "Is there a problem, General?" He asks as casually as possible, twisting only his masked face around.
"Since when do you and the Knights of Ren do reconnaissance work?" Ren can hardly stand Hux's incessant sneer.
He twists around and strides over until he is once again face to face with Hux. "How capable are your soldiers, General?"
Hux recognizes the slight and is defensive. A normal reaction to their interactions. "I won't have you question my methods."
Ren smirks behind his cold metallic mask. "One of your troopers never fired his weapon in the village. Perhaps Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army?"
Hux is downright offended. "My men are exceptionally trained! Programmed from birth!"
Ren stifles a chuckle. "Put your hackles down, General. I'll retrieve the droid myself. Unharmed."
"Careful Ren," Hux warns, "that your 'personal interests' not interfere with orders from Leader Snoke."
"I want that map," Kylo snarls. "You understand the importance of this mission, do you not?"
"Don't take me for a fool, Ren," Hux huffs. "I want the location of Skywalker just as much as you do. Just because you knew the man…"
"Don't speak of him to me, General," Ren silences him with a tongue-lashing. "We both understand what is at stake here. Do you not trust me to be able to locate and retrieve a droid? Is your faith in the Knights truly so little?"
The look in Hux's eyes look bloodcurdlingly cold. "I have entire legions of troopers to retrieve any scrap of metal left on that junkyard planet. Nobody needs the Knights to slash their way through a planet simply for a droid."
Ren pauses. "I'm going to get that droid myself," he sharply says. "If you insist on deploying a few squadrons, then so be it, but I will be the one returning with the droid."
They part and the General huffs in annoyance. He can't stand Ren. Kylo strides away menacingly. He can't stand Hux.
Kylo's arrival on the planet was met with suspicion but largely he managed to cloak himself to his surroundings well enough. This mission didn't require his presence alerted. Ren figured the less intimidation the smoother the operation. He left his usual garb onboard and, reluctantly, decided to use his own face as a mask.
It just had to be a sandy junkyard planet didn't it? He wrapped himself thoroughly in lightweight fabrics, great for airflow yet shielding his skin from the harsh suns. Excellent for covering his face and blending in among the masses.
But where the hell is anything in this giant sandbox? Kylo took a moment of meditation, using the force to read life signatures. Niima Outpost. A strong presence of life out that way. A good place to start.
As he travels, inconspicuously as possible, he gets an alert from the Finalizer. The pilot escaped in a TIE fighter, helped by a stormtrooper but they are still in process of verifying the trooper's identity. Ren knows which one. The one from the village. FN-2187. He doesn't report back.
Somehow, Ren is relieved at the screw up. It was one of Hux's men on Hux's watch. It brings a smirk to Kylo's covered face. Snoke will ream him for sure.
Snoke. The name leaves a nasty residue in his mind. Ren can lie to Hux all day long and the fool would never know better but it was much more difficult to sneak around without Supreme Leader Snoke reading his mind and seducing him back to the fight, thick into the fog of the dark side of the force.
As Kylo travels, he can't help but quarrel with himself. He feels the call to the light even still despite Snoke's heavy influence to the contrary. The truth of the matter is, Kylo just isn't cut out to be faithful to either side of the force. His actions and feelings are too contradictory. He loathes both of his masters, Jedi and Sith. Skywalker was impatient and demanding. He asks for self-control and personal sacrifice. Snoke promised the world and all its power but demanded servitude and his very soul in return. Both masters took way too much and left Ren with far too little.
The truth is, neither of these fights are truly his own. Ren longs for something he cannot quite name. Something he fears is unattainable now that his very soul has been so tainted and stretched thin. He longs for relief. But what that means, Ren has no idea.
The honest truth of the matter is, Ren wants that map before either side gets ahold of it. The race for Skywalker is his and his alone, and Ren will do whatever it takes to find him first. What he'll do or where he'll go from there, he doesn't know but he'll figure that out on his own.
Suddenly, a sign of life he can read with his eyes. Niima Outpost. There, just beyond the dune. So many life signatures. They're close enough and Ren is strong enough to scan for any traces of the BB-unit he was in pursuit of. Largely nothing. One is on the lookout as well. A First Order sympathizer. If Ren stretches his abilities just a little further he can catch the creature's name. Unkar Plutt.
He doesn't catch the force signature of the girl until he arrives at the outskirts of town. She has the round orange-and-white droid with her, too. By the time he catches up to her, Unkar Plutt had offered her sixty portions for the droid. A scam. The droid is easily worth a significant sum but with the added intel, the droid is practically priceless. This Unkar Plutt is a master scam artist.
The girl is interested in the offer initially - grabbing at the packets greedily - but she hesitates. The droid whirs behind her awaiting it's fate. Kylo Ren senses her hesitation. He can read her so easily. She's got force sensitivity, perhaps she doesn't already know it herself or she'd keep her feelings better concealed.
"Actually," she says, "The droid's not for sale."
She grabs a packet and walks away. "Come on," she calls to the droid.
Seeing her for the first time, Kylo Ren is overcome by her beauty and strength. She's lithe, poised, and confident. You can see it in her demeanor. She wastes little time and she knows what she's doing at all times. Scavenging has taught her to hold her own. All this Kylo learns in seconds.
But also her face. It's feminine, sure, but dirty - a life of digging in the sand will do that - but her skin is still smooth and youthful. Her body is wrapped from neck to feet in light tan cloth but her frame is skinny and lean. Malnourished, but strong. She dresses for efficiency and protection but not for anyone else.
Kylo Ren feels an overwhelming sense of longing. A sense of loneliness. Perhaps she has no one else.
Unkar Plutt will not let the girl best him. "Follow the girl and get that droid," he demands over a communicator, slamming his service window door shut.
Kylo could easily pull the droid to him with the force but he doesn't. He could freeze the girl and the droid in place but he won't. He could use the force to manipulate her into giving him the droid but he's fairly sure she is not weak of mind. Instead he watches the girl and the droid walk away from the service stall towards him. He waits in the shadows practically paralyzed with curiosity. He likes how she walks. He likes the trio of buns her brunette hair is wrapped in. He likes her tenacity.
The girl stops to converse with the droid. Does she know what she has in her possession? She must not. How did she stumble upon the droid? Why does the droid willingly follow her?
Then. He senses a disturbance. Thugs. The junk seller's. They're in pursuit of the droid. They cover the droid in a burlap sack and manhandle the girl. Kylo feels the intense sensation to save the girl and he takes a few steps out of the shadows in response to her imminent danger, but he finds himself surprised once again. The girl is armed with a quarterstaff and Ren is amazed to witness her wield it against her foes. She fights like a feral animal. Brutal. Ruthless. She whacks and smacks and bites and kicks.
And she wins.
When the fight is over, the girl removes the burlap sack over the frantic BB-unit. Something about her gives him pause, a strange feeling. Kylo Ren, the infamously feared Sith apprentice, is intimidated by no one, but this girl… he needs to play this right.
It all goes wrong from the start. The girl's head whips his direction, a direction pointed out by the droid, and takes off for him like a blaster shot. It takes Ren too long to register what is happening, and she's quickly gaining speed and closing the distance. He runs around two stalls before she trips him with her quarterstaff and he lands roughly on his back.
"What's your hurry, thief!" The girl accuses. Her voice, throaty and pleasantly feminine, was rough and course with fury. The BB-unit rolls up next to her.
"Thief!?" Kylo responds, completely thrown off. The droid extends a metallic limb from it's round body and gives his leg a quick zap of electricity.
"Ahh!" Kylo gasps in response, "Stop it!"
"His master! This droid says you stole him."
The droid gives Ren yet another vindictive zap. "Stop it!" Ren shouts. "Poe Dameron, right? That was his name?"
The droid pauses in concentration. Kylo decides the easiest route is to tell the truth as much as possible and lie about the details. "The First Order captured him but he escaped. He didn't make it. I'm sorry."
The droid's rounded head slumps down his body solemnly and rolls away in mourning. A part of Kylo feels bad about the half-lie but he's gotten so used to lying as of late. He lies to Hux, lies to Snoke, lies to the First Order. What's one more half lie to a droid and a nameless girl?
The girl regards him curiously, lowering her weapon. "So… you're with the Resistance?"
The thought leaves a black cloud in Kylo's mind. The pathetic Resistance. And their leader… the thought of her leaves an even darker cloud over his mind. But let it be known that Kylo Ren never turned down a perfectly good opportunity.
He lifts himself off the ground. "I was a part of the First Order, but I couldn't do it anymore. They're cruel. Heartless. Vile. So I took this opportunity to escape. They're after this droid. I can't let them get their hands on it."
The girl regards him with much kinder eyes. "I've never met a First Order defector before."
Ren doesn't suppose she has. "We look like this. Well, I think I'm the only one."
She smiles at him and something inside of his chest flips. "BB-8 says he's on a secret mission, he has to get back to the Resistance base."
They both regard the droid, several feet away, "He's carrying a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone is after it."
Ren doesn't know why he just let that slip out. A potentially costly mistake. Swiftly, he looks to the girl who stares at him with wide glittering eyes, "Luke Skywalker? I thought he was just a myth!"
He wishes Skywalker was nothing but a myth. Kylo regards her curiosity and enthusiasm with great interest much to the ignorance of his teachings. Such feelings stir up only trouble. But her enthusiasm troubles him too. At the very mention of his old teacher, her face lights up in wonder and awe. Ren cannot possibly match her fervor. He knew the man. Luke taught him how to be a Jedi. It was Luke that Ren first betrayed. How had a girl on sandy junkyard planet become so convoluted as to assume he barely existed? Kylo thought the story was as widely known as his own reputation?
Then again, the girl didn't seem to recognize him without his mask.
Kylo is robbed of his chance to correct her when BB-8 rolls back and squeals out beeps and tones frantically at his new cohort. Ren wishes he had taken the time to learn the droid languages. He'd been avoiding it for years, assuming such lessons were far below him. The girl understands the BB-unit. Ren could kick himself for being so ignorant.
No translation is needed this time, however. Kylo sees it for himself. Stormtroopers. Hux's. His eyes roll to the back of his head. It was Kylo who said Hux could send down troopers if he pleased. Damn. They're talking to the thugs that ambushed the girl. Fingers point their direction.
Kylo urgently takes the girls hand despite her protests. Blasters at the ready, the troopers shoot carelessly, destroying droids and vendor goods all the while missing their mark. "I can run perfectly well without you holding my hand!" The girl shouts. Ren pulls her behind him until they are out of sight within a vacant vendor stall. He tries in vain to find a suitable weapon. If he draws his crossblade lightsaber, his entire undercover operation will be blown and he'll be back under the watchful eye of Snoke once more.
"They're shooting at both of us," the girl says, exasperated.
"You're marked," Kylo remarks. "Does anyone have a blaster around here?"
The girl bends over and examines the droid. "BB-8, are you ok?"
A familiar sound. It perks up Kylo and he bends down to shush the girl and the droid. The sound gets closer. A TIE fighter has entered the fray. Fuck. Kylo grabs her hand once more.
"Stop taking my hand!" she roars but it falls on numb ears. Kylo needs to get them out and the ship he arrived in is too far away. He runs, dragging the girl behind him until he can think of a better solution. BB-8 whirls on behind them, managing to stay close.
A TIE fighter is no match for two groundlings. Targets locked, the TIE fighter shoots and barely misses his mark. Kylo, the girl and the droid all fly through the air as the blasters create a gargantuan explosion, landing hard on the beige sand.
The girl stirs and examines the scene, terrified. She turns and sees an unconscious Kylo Ren lying on his back. She panics. BB-8 wobbles over towards them.
"Hey… hey!" She wishes she knew his name, but nudging him will have to do for now.
Through the fog, Kylo awakens to the lovely sight of the girl. "Are you ok?" He asks with genuine concern, which should bother him, but the state of things at the moment leave his brain a little preoccupied.
The girl, though, she's temporarily stunned. This perfect stranger asked about her own wellbeing, a question no one has ever bothered to ask before. It takes her a moment to snap out of her reverie and reply, "Yeah."
Taking her hand, they run like the wind with BB-8 not far behind. TIE fighters shoot explosive blasters left and right, with Ren, the girl, and the droid managing to outrun them.
"We can't outrun them," Kylo shouts in panic.
"We might in that quad-jumper!" The girl shouts back, pointing to the compact but quality built red vessel ahead of them.
It comes to Kylo's attention that he hasn't flown a ship like that in ages. "We need a pilot!"
The girl flails her arms dramatically, "We've got one!"
"You?" Yet again, the girl surprises him with her many talents. Ren sees a hefty ship, partially concealed in the foreground. "What about that one?"
"That one's garbage!" She shouts. Something about that ship calls to Ren.
Suddenly, the compact and shiny red quad-jumper in front of them explodes.
"The garbage will do!" The girl says and together they run off into the more sizable but obviously outdated grey metallic beast of a ship.
It's not until they walk inside that Ren realizes why it called to him and he's left stunned and speechless. Close to tears.
The girl pays no attention to him and heads straight for the cockpit. "The gunner pit's down there," she calls to him, oblivious to his state of mind.
The sound of two TIE Fighters overhead snaps him out of his reverie, but Ren is still quite shaken up. The memories of this place… how in the hell did it end up here in this desert junkyard? Kylo manages to make his way to the gunner's pit. He was never allowed to sit here as a child regardless of all the tantrums he threw. Somehow he can still hear them arguing about it and chiding him for his petulance.
"This ship hasn't flown in years," Kylo mutters to himself, the gravity of the words sinking into his chest. This ship doesn't belong here. He closes his eyes and summons the force to guide him. "I can do this… I can do this…"
Up in the cockpit, the girl flips on switches and mutters to herself, "I can do this… I can do this…" She pulls the lever and the ship lifts itself up, but barely. Tarps fly off as the ship tips left and then tips right. The girl pulls at anything in attempt to level the ship, but it's flying to erratically. Eventually, it demolishes an archway before blasting away with the two TIE fighters tailing it.
Kylo senses a choice here, one that must be made now and cannot be taken back. He doesn't personally know the pilots manning the TIE fighters, but they certainly are First Order soldiers. If he fights them then he truly will have broken ties with his First Order colleagues. Kylo can sense that he hasn't been made yet. They think he's just another Jakku civilian like the girl. Perhaps he can convince the girl to swing by his original vessel so Kylo can blow it up and make it look like he had been killed. He can give himself a head start.
So be it. Kylo Ren is nobody's war puppet anymore.
She's trying to take the ship to high ground. It's a mistake. "Whoa! Whoa. Stay low!"
"What?" She shouts from the cockpit.
"Stay low! It confuses their tracking!"
They dip as the girl attempts to bring the ship down from stratosphere into the troposphere.
"BB-8, hold on! We're going low!" She calls out.
Upon reentering the strongest level of gravity, the poor droid bounces off of all four walls. The girl notes that the two TIE fighters are continuing to shoot at them despite the incredible agility of the ship.
"What are you doing down there?" She cries out. "Are you ever going to fire back?"
Kylo Ren flicks on the targeting system and his inner child finally feels a small sense of gratification. "I'm working on it. Are the shields up?"
Up in the cockpit, the girl stretches across the panel of buttons, switches, and levers. "Not so easy without a co-pilot," she mutters.
Finally, Kylo has the TIE fighters targeted and locked. He fires! He misses. Admittedly, Kylo spent more time training to wield a lightsaber, not blasters. Closing his eyes, he allows the force to flow through him. A TIE fighter blast rocks the ship and all of it's occupants.
"We need cover!" Ren shouts up to the girl.
"We're about to get some…" she shouts to Ren, but to herself she mutters, "…I hope,"
The ship banks a hard right and enters a graveyard of metal, the two TIE fighters following closely behind. Ships of old litter the sandy field like rusting tombstones. Kylo Ren recognizes most of the models. Old Empiric Star Destroyers. Outdated TIE fighter models. Tyridium shuttles. The ship rocks back and forth, banking hard at every turn and the poor droid shoots out three perfectly angled wires to keep itself steady in this tumultuous ride.
Finally, Kylo feels perfectly at one with the Force and when the TIE fighter and the targetting system align a few seconds later, Kylo shoots the guns with precise aim for a direct hit.
"Nice shot!" The girl calls down and Kylo is smug. The TIE fighter smashes to the sandy ground for groundlings to pick through. In retaliation, the last TIE fighter shoots and directly hits Kylo's cannon.
"The cannon's stuck in forward position," he yells up at the girl. "you've got to lose them!"
Amidst her panic, the girl comes up with a risky solution. "Get ready," she shouts down.
"For what?" Kylo questions but gets no response in return.
The girl lifts the hefty ship up and then circles back down until it disappears inside a humongous wrecked star destroyer. It makes Kylo uneasy, but he is calmed when he senses the Force at work in her. She's not as confident in her abilities. The TIE fighter followed her inside and the pathway she'd been zooming through is quickly narrowing in on them. She'll be stuck before long. She turns before registering the sight of an exit.
Back out in the open desert, the girl makes a snap decision. Cutting off the power, the ship arches forward, about to give into the planet's gravity. Kylo suddenly has the TIE fighter in his direct path. He shoots. The vessel explodes. Swiftly, she switches the power back on and together they fly away cheering at their victory.
Kylo has a thought.
"Head due south," he shouts up to the girl.
She scrunches her face. "Why?"
"I escaped the First Order," he replies. "I landed southwest of Niima Outpost. I need to blow up my vessel. They can't know I'm alive."
The girl does as he commands. "I'd think blowing up two of their fighters would alert them to your presence."
He doesn't respond but for a sly smirk. Again, the girl surprises him - she's got wit.
It doesn't take long before they reach his landing site. A small black speck in a swirling sea of sand dunes. Nothing else around for miles. "I can't target the ship. You've got to fly over it."
"Do you need me to pump the brakes?"
His smirk grows wider. "It wouldn't hurt…"
She rolls her eyes and reduces speed. Kylo takes but a second to meditate and let the Force flow through him. It's difficult to concentrate with the girl so nearby. She's force sensitive and stronger than she knows. As soon as they are in range, Kylo fires and his ship goes from black to fiery orange.
"Wooo!" He shouts as the girl tilts the ship skyward and, within seconds, they are surrounded by the comforting black, spotted blanket of space.