Kylo Ren's eyes shot open, startled awake by the alarm that sounded throughout the Finalizer, announcing its approach to Starkiller Base and the subsequent drop from hyper space. He blinked away the sleep, his vision adjusting to the unnatural light that filtered through his helmet. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but was grateful for the brief respite. He had lost track of the number of cycles it had been since the massacre on Jakku. His every waking moment since had been consumed with his obsession with finding the map to Skywalker. He didn't really take the time to think on the unnatural feeling that lingered in the back of his mind whenever his focus strayed from that one task, drawing him back to it almost painfully. As he got to his feet, he reached out with the Force to take a brief mental inventory of the crew within range, as well as touching on the status of his prisoner.

Even though he had pulled her from consciousness before boarding the command shuttle on Takodana, he had arranged that she be medically sedated for the journey back to Starkiller. He could have kept her under himself with relative ease, but he was just so damned tired. After all flight checks and preparations for the jump to hyper speed had been made, he returned to the medical bay and took a seat beside the gurney where she lay.

The fact that his sitting vigil beside an unconscious, restrained woman while still donning his helmet was kind of creepy wasn't lost on him. Truthfully, he had been fascinated with the very idea of this girl since he first heard word of her involvement in stealing the droid away from Jakku. Something had stirred in the Force at the very mention of her and now that she was here, he could barely contain his curiosity. Of course, he wouldn't impress upon her while she was sedated, even though it'd be easy to sneak in while she slept, the thought of doing such a thing was repulsive, and, well, creepy.

The other reason he wanted to keep her within his sights was because he didn't trust Hux or the underlings he commanded. While Ren was technically in command of this mission, Hux was not above undermining and manipulating his way into any and every situation. There was little cause for Ren to doubt that the red-hair general would have received word that the droid had not been acquired and that he would very much want to interrogate the rebel scum himself, much like he had with the pilot Dameron before he was forced to bring in Ren and left the chamber, re-faced and glowering at his failure.

After descending to the base, Ren lead a small procession out of the shuttle and into the large cargo bay. The headache he'd had since they landed on Takodana had dulled a bit after his nap, but the relief was short-lived as he sauntered out of the hanger and felt the unmistakable hum of General Hux's life force buzzing in his skull and then he saw the ginger nightmare rounding a corner in the corridor, stomping towards him scowling and put out as ever.

"Ren!" he spat, his whole frame practically shaking as he approached, the man in black regarding him with the cool indifference afforded to him by the imposing helmet.

"General." Ren said, his voice modulator offering a bored intonation.

"Am I to understand that your mission to collect the droid resulted in the loss of half a battalion of my Storm Troopers with NO DROID to show for it?!" Hux shouted above the din of the disembarking storm troopers and flight crew doing post-landing checks and maintenance just beyond the closing doors.

"The droid was not needed. I have something else."

"Yes. Another prisoner with which to waste precious First Order time and resources interrogating just to fail spectacularly. Tell me, Ren, are you deliberately trying to evoke the wrath of the Supreme Leader or is it just astonishing incompetence?" Hux's imperious frown turned just slightly into a smug grin, his head tilting up defiantly as he heard the squeaking of leather as Ren's fists balled tightly, betraying the Knight's slowly rising ire. Ren refused to take the bait, however, and stared the shorter man down until Hux's bravado visibly wavered. Before either could break the tension, an officer approached them, "Lord Ren, do you wish the prisoner to be taken to the interrogation chamber?"

"I will take her myself." Ren stated. This development seemed to incense the general but as he opened his mouth to object, Ren had already motioned his charge to continue down the corridor and then turned away after them.

Upon entering the lift, Ren gently pressed into the scavenger's mind, just to check her level of consciousness, ensuring she didn't regain it before being properly restrained, not that she posed much of a threat should she suddenly come to and attempt to escape. He just had no desire to deal with it. He was exhausted, his head hurt and he was feeling done, overall. He just wanted this whole business with Skywalker to be over with, so he could complete his training and finally take the next step towards fulfilling his destiny. It had been ages since he last felt purpose, endless cycles drifting in a dream state, feeling like the walking dead. He isn't certain when it was he last had a desire that was completely his own, long forgotten what it felt like to want.

He is shaken from his thoughts as the chamber is reached and the droids roll the stretcher inside. Waving them away, he takes it upon himself to lift her slight form off the gurney and place her gently onto the table, securing her restraints and tilting the table upright so, when awake, she can face him directly.

Ren can sense her beneath the sleep, frantic and confused, and resists the urge to push in to see what she's seeing. He reaches out to wake her, eager to get this over with when something gives him pause. He steps closer to her sleeping form, realizing that up until this moment he hadn't really looked at her since their brief encounter on Takodana, and even then it's hard to get a good look through the visor. He reaches up to disconnect his helmet, almost insatiably curious to look upon her with his own eyes, but a flicker in the Force gives him pause; he can feel her consciousness stirring and he drops to a crouch to watch her awaken undisturbed.

Ren had underestimated the scavenger.

She towers over him while the planet falls apart. His face feels like it's on fire, but she is glowing and beautiful and dangerous. Broken and bleeding into the snow, Ren can't help but stare at her. He can feel her conflict; her burning desire for revenge and the blinding, holy Light staying her hand.

This girl came into her powers in less time than it took him to learn to Force call objects as a padawan. It was breathtaking to witness, regardless of the utter humiliation he felt at having been bested. Master of the Knights of Ren, beaten by an untrained desert rat. That was the thought that stabbed through his mind, though he knew the thought was not his own; Snoke was furious. Ren had failed. Again. Killing Han Solo had not been the great sever that it was heralded by the Supreme Leader to be. Ren felt no greater call to the Dark Side in the wake of it, if anything, he was more at war with himself than he could ever remember being.

He blinks dumbly up at her as she wavers uncertainly above him, his heart hammering in his chest with an anticipation he can't define. The ground trembles, separates and for a moment Ren is afraid she will fall into the yawning chasm between them. The quaking earth widens their distance, and Ren can sense the Force stretching taut, pulling at his chest as her form shrinks away. The pain in his gut and shoulder begin to cloud his vision and he finds he has no desire to harness the pain into the strength to get up and get off the planet before it explodes. He can still sense her in the trees, he feels her confusion at the reluctance she feels to flee and the sudden snap of the tether he feels as she breaks away from the planet fills him with an inexplicable melancholy that drops him back into the snow, closing his eyes and embracing the cold. Hoping that the dying world will take him with it.

He hears the crunching of boots and the hum of a shuttle just before he slips into an oblivion.

Kylo Ren's eyes shot open, startled awake by the alarm that sounded throughout the Finalizer, announcing its approach to Starkiller Base and the subsequent drop from hyper space. Ren bolts from where he's seated next to the prisoner in the medical bay of the Finalizer. Through the large window, he watches the weaponized planet grow inexorably closer.

His brow furrows beneath his helmet and his confounded tone manages to translate through the voice modulator,

"What the Hell?"