Kylo Ren. A creature in a mask. Except he wasn't. Just a simple man, with simple, sad eyes. But Rey knew better than that.
She loathed to admit it, but his hidden sadness resonated very well with her own. The loneliness, the abandonment, all feelings she knew too well. Rey glowered at her own visage in the small, dingy mirror hanging in her bathroom quarters. How had she lowered herself to such a level to feel compassion for this murderer?
The scavenger girl huffed and pushed off of the sink she had supported herself on. It been almost five months since the destruction of Starkiller Base, since Kylo Ren's graceless fall. Yet he still managed to plague every corner of Rey's mind. It would have been easier for her is he was dead, but she could still feel the light thrum of his presence through the Force. If Kylo Ren was dead, it would have been easier to move on; out of sight, out of mind. Maybe then she wouldn't feel such misery for a sad, simple man behind a mask. But she had a job to do.
A sharp knock at Rey's door shook her out of her angered haze. She took one last look at her drained, tired face in the mirror before rushing off to the entrance and punching a button next to the door to let it slide open.
"Ma'am, you're needed down in the command room by the general's request," spoke a young resistance fighter. Rey nodded resignedly to the young man before straightening out her clothing with shaky, nervous fingers. Today was the day.
"You all know why I summoned you down here," Leia spoke commonly, her mouth set into a grim line. "We have finally received a reconnaissance report on Snoke's and Be-."The general drew in a deep breath before setting herself straight. "Snoke's and Kylo Ren's whereabouts. They are both situated on adjacent planets within the outer rim." Leia pawed at the table before her for support, trying to find the strength to continue.
Admiral Ackbar interceded on behalf of the general. "The time to strike is now. The First Order is still trying to piece together their defense, leaving them in a vulnerable state. One squadron is needed to quietly take care of Kylo Ren while he is still injured. To apprehend him, but to kill him if we must."
"That is where I step in," Rey finally spoke up, moving from her secluded corner of the room. "I need the best pilots and ground fighters standing by to assist in the case that I am unable to complete this mission alone." Without a moment's hesitation, both Finn and Poe stepped forward, closely followed by others who had become close to the two.
"This won't be like Starkiller Base. Our sole purpose on this mission is to go after Kylo Ren; he knows we're coming. That means more firepower on both the ground and in the air. If you're not prepared to die today, then step down. For those who are ready, we leave at dawn," Rey forced out, a fire of emotions lit behind her eyes.
Today she was going to end Kylo Ren.