A/N: Hello all! This is my first go at a Star Wars fic. This one has quite a few influences from the book Bloodline by Claudia Grey. I hope to write this in such a way things will make sense with out it, but I highly recommend reading it anyway because its amazing. All recognizable characters are not mine, just borrowing. Enjoy! 3
Kylo Ren sat at the head of an oblong table, General Hux to his right, surrounded by the various leaders in the First Order. He was more than surprised to see Captain Phasma already seated at the table, less than a month after the near destruction of Supremacy. She was seated to his left, but he wished she was a few chairs down. Her injuries were severe, even the best care of the First Order could not put Phasma back to her default state. It was hard to tell from her armour, but her left arm and right leg were no longer her own. Her breathing was loud, louder than normal through the seemingly restrictive helmets of the Stormtroopers.
"... at which time the Supreme Leader will give the order to continue our pursuit of the remaining Resistance." Hux turned towards Kylo expectantly.
"Yes." Kylo did not like to say more than he had to. Mostly because he got a small amount of amusement from the twitch Hux seemed to develop when Kylo did not lead the way that Hux so desperately wanted.
Hux cleared his throat, probably attempting to fill the silence Kylo had left him with, "Well, we have reason to believe that they are currently hopping from Outer Rim Planet to Outer Rim planet. They will quickly run out of friendly faces and we will have them cornered within the month."
"Thank you, General Hux," Kylo interrupted. He was even more amused by the sneer Hux made when he gave him patronizing praise. "Pleased to have you back with us, Phasma."
"I am ready to serve, Supreme Leader." Phasma responded in her now metalicy voice.
"Good. To your posts." Kylo stood up and turned from the table before anyone could ask anymore questions or bother him with the details of war.
The halls of the ship were narrow and Kylo's broad shoulders took up most of the space. His boots echoed in the empty hallways as he approached his quarters. Two armed Stormtroopers stood watch outside his door. Hux had insisted on guards for all of the Leaders, a request to which Kylo acquiesced despite being nearly certain they were not there for his protection, but rather as a means for Hux to keep tabs on him. He also knew that there was nothing that could be suspicious about his comings and goings. This just meant Hux would continue to have a false sense of superiority that Kylo could potentially use against him in the future.
Throwing the cape off his shoulders, he crossed the room to sit by the small window of his quarters. Not many rooms had windows to the outside, so he had sought this one out. The blue white haze of hyperspace had always been something he enjoyed. It was one of the few fond memories he had of his time spent with his father. After his father's death, he found himself more drawn towards the feeling from his youth of staring out into depth of hyperspace.
Not just his father's death, after his father's murder. A crime he had committed. It felt like a lifetime ago that he pressed the button on his lightsaber. Snoke was not wrong. It had weighed on his soul. In the moment, he was so sure, so certain that he was doing the right thing. He was on a path, his only path. I want to be free of this pain. He took some strange solace in the fact that his last words to his father were not a lie.
He had barely heard them at the time, but his memory of the moment was now filled with her screams. Rey. Kylo had not felt her in his mind since Crait. He also had not tried to find her. There was no reason to. She made her choice. She left him. The look in her eyes as she closed the bond said everything he needed to know. Kylo Ren was still a monster.
Initially he tried to fill the void she left with rage. It was familiar. It was comfortable. Was. When he let himself be driven by rage for his father and his precious Millennium Falcon he nearly shot her out of the sky. When he let his rage for Luke Skywalker over take him, he let the Resistance escape which marked his first battle as Supreme Leader a joke. When he tried to let his rage drown out the regret of his failure, he found it wasn't enough to overcome the tiny flame of relief he felt when he saw her still alive.
Rey centered herself once more, placing one foot behind her and the other pointed towards her opponent. Sweat dripped from her forehead, making her eyes just the tiniest bit blurry. She was used to that sort of burn from her days on Jakku, but she hadn't been there in what felt like years. She had already forgotten what the heat was like.
"Oh come on Poe, you can do better than that." She taunted.
Poe responded rather raggedly, taking deep breaths between his words, "I…. thought I …. Said… don't take it… easy… on… me."
Rey responded by swinging the bottom of her staff towards Poe's feet, but he managed to block the move with his own staff. He countered by trying to sweep her staff upwards but all he managed to do was give her the leverage to come down on his shoulder.
"Let's call it a day," Rey said, as she watched Poe cringe at her strike. Frankly, she was also about out of energy herself, but it was more fun to pretend she was taking pity on him.
"Yeah, Yeah. You win." His voice was light, "Next time though…"
Rey let out a laugh, it wasn't often that she did, but it was almost always at Poe when she did. The two had become fast friends. Competitive as all hell, but friends nonetheless. The pair headed back to the tent that was Home Base for the week. They were on Daxam IV, an outer rim planet that was mostly desert, but surprisingly cold with the exception of high noon.
The Resistance was small. Painfully small, so the remaining members had taken to trading skills with each other. It was actually something that Poe and Rey had started. Poe had requested a few lessons in hand to hand combat. He was a hell of pilot, but he knew that wasn't enough. Rey quickly agreed, if he gave her some flying tips. Rey was already one of the best pilots left in the Resistance, but that unfortunately didn't take much. So she knew she needed to learn more.
Since then, Finn had started teaching Medics how to repair blasters, Rose had started learning how to heal from the Medics, though that was mostly because she had spent so much time in whatever makeshift medic center they would setup since she herself had been badly injured. She now had a small limp, but it did not seem to slow her down. Especially not her voice.
Rey at first was somewhat overwhelmed by Rose's pace, but it didn't take long for her to appreciate her stories, especially ones of her sister Pearl.
"Hungry?" Poe gestured in the direction of the food storage.
"Yeah, alright. I'll meet you in just a sec," She tugged on her drenched shirt, hoping he'd get the picture that she wanted to change first. He nodded so she figured he got it.
The Resistance didn't really get much space to themselves. Up until very recently, the Falcon was the only ship in their fleet, which was to say the least, very crowded. They were lucky enough to find a seller on a remote planet that was willing to sell to them. Rey was becoming more and more involved in the recruitment and rebuilding of their resources. She did not feel qualified to be in any sort of important role, but Leia had insisted she join the meetings of the remaining leaders.
She got to the bay door on the Falcon and climbed in. Chewbacca had his arms in a control panel and let out a short greeting to Rey.
"Hi Chewie, I'll come by and see if I can help after lunch, okay?" She enjoyed Chewie's company more than most. She found his presence comforting. Rey knew he had been close to Han and there were some days she found him on the Falcon simply sitting in the co-pilot seat staring. She would come and sit on the small space between the floor and the pilot seat and sit in silence with him. Once and only once he told her "I miss him." That was all she needed to hear to know that he was genuinely thankful for her presence.
Rey had only known Han for a few days when she lost him, but the memory of his death was sharp. It was the first time she saw him. She had met Kylo Ren. But that was the first time she saw Ben. She didn't know it then, but Ben was there too.
She had not felt his presence in quite some time, which was somewhat of a shock to her. He had no reason to reach out for her, and yet she had expected it. She also hated herself just a little bit for feeling sad that he hadn't. Even if he did, Rey had no idea what she would even say to him. He had hunted her down. Hunted his mother down, attacking them with such ferocity, there was no way she would ever feel sympathy for him again.
With a cleaner shirt on, she went back to join Poe for lunch. She pushed thoughts of Ben aside, determined to only think of him as Kylo Ren. She could fight Kylo Ren.
Before she reached Poe, General Organa, stopped Rey to talk.
"Rey, how are you doing?" Leia asked, a knowing look in her eye. Rey had not told her about the bond with her son, and had no intention of doing so, but Leia was observant. Unsettlingly so. It's probably why she was the great leader that she was.
"As good as I can be. I've been training with Poe for much of today. It feels good to train." Rey said truthfully.
"Good, he needs knocked down a peg." Leia said playfully. "I need your help tomorrow. There is a potential cache of resources here, but the chances are low, so I don't want to get too many hopes up."
"Uh, sure," Rey responded nervously. She would of course help, but the secrecy Leia sometimes employed to get things done always felt a bit wrong to her. "What sort of cache?"
"Well, interestingly enough, this used to be a base for a very early army of the First Order. It was, abandoned for some reasons I may, or may not have been involved in. I'm hoping they didn't clear everything out, or leave too many traps." Leia had a look on her face that made her look years younger, mischievous and amused.
Rey would have to ask her about those reasons one day. "I'll clear my schedule," She smiled as she continued on her way. After a few more steps, she felt it. It wasn't strong. It might not have even been real. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a blue and white glow, much like the glow of hyperspace, but before her eyes could focus it was gone. The feeling she was left with was unmistakable. Ben.
Kylo Ren sat up in his chair. Could it be? He reached out further, pushing on the bond, hoping he could reach her. He forgot what it felt like, to know she was there. His heartbeat quickened. Rising to his feet, he looked around his room desperate for a glimpse. But it was gone already. Now he knew for certain. The bond was still there and that was enough.