The Star Destroyer Finalizer hovers in the dark vacuum of space while the medic droids patch up Kylo Ren's wound on his face. General Hux overlooks everyone else's work in the bridge as they do their routinely work operating the Star Destroyer.
The red-headed general looks at the wide window, seeing nothing but stars, planets, and moons in orbit. For once, everything seems peaceful.
"Status report?"
"Fleet has adequate fuel, nothing foreign detected in our radars, and the jump to lightspeed is ready at your command, sir." said the operator checking the screen on their panel.
"Good."
Meanwhile, outside the Star Destroyer, is a lone freighter ship. The vehicle's thrusters burned and pushed it forward, heading straight for the colossal ship. Like a bullet, it got through the force field that divides the hangar and the pressure of outer space, it effortlessly landed on the hangar grounds—which caught the attention of a thousand Stormtroopers, droids, and commanders.
"An unidentified ship has landed in hangar 5A!" One of the commanders shouted.
This caused an alert amongst the crew present in the hangar. The Stormtroopers—by impulse—pointed their blasters at the now-still ship, awaiting orders to fire at the pilot at its exit. The crew persons eagerly looked over the rails and windows of their stations, anticipating any move from the pilot.
Everybody in the hangar heard a hollow whirring sound—the ship's cannon turrets—and they became cautious, whoever this pilot was, they were definitely racking a million nerves. The turrets are pointed at the Stormtroopers but are not firing. Could the pilot be taunting them or is the pilot expecting something?
No, the pilot was not expecting anything. The turrets have already begun firing at a cluster of Stormtroopers and it did so for a few rounds. The troopers opened fire at the freighter and it was the perfect opportunity for the pilot to bust out of the ship and take them by surprise.
"Hold your fire!" one of the commanders shouted and the Stormtroopers ceased.
The pipes blew off steam as the ramp of the freighter lowers. The smoke clouded the image of the pilot standing at the opening. The silken yet menacing hums of a lightsaber rang across the hangar—igniting tension, anxiety, and fear amongst the Stormtroopers and the commanders—and the bright, glowing blue shaft of light illuminated the fog. The pilot nonchalantly steps out of the ship.
"Jedi?! I thought they were all extinct!" the commander exclaimed, "What are you waiting for? Fire!"
The pilot was a woman. As she stood in front of the awe-stricken army, another shaft of light emerged from the other end of the saber—to their surprise, instead of blue, the color that emerged was red, such a color belongs to the likes of Kylo Ren.
"Attack!" again, the commander exclaimed.
From the way she moved, she was full of fluidity and grace. Her face is concealed with a full-head helm with a vertical visor, she deflected every blast of the Stormtroopers with the lightsaber. At one point, one Stormtrooper has grazed the side of her helmet, causing her to lose balance and so the troopers took advantage of her faltering composure, but she deflected their shots weakly and regained her footing in the process. She pulled out a DH-17 blaster pistol to heighten her odds against the Stormtroopers. She threw a thermal detonator and destroyed a handful of the AT-ST units for good measure. Eventually, she cut them all down and used the Force to bring down the rails where a number of commanders were standing on. She was all over the place.
When the blasts have become continuous, the girl twisted the middle of her lightsaber's hilt and it split into two. The twin lightsabers hummed as she spun them to deflect the projectiles and with great precision, the blasts ricocheted and aimlessly hit back the troopers.
"Get General Hux and tell him that—" the commander in the hangar's bridge said but is immediately cut off by the red-headed general himself.
"What in blazes is happening?!"
"I-It's…"
"What? It's what?!"
"There's been an intrusion and it's a Jedi." The commander whimpered.
Hux's eyebrows furrowed with disbelief, "That's impossible. All the Jedi are dead!"
Another scream from the hangar called the general's attention, he strode towards the window and finds the Jedi that his men are referring to—a helmed Jedi girl wielding twin lightsabers. Without hesitation, he made his way to Kylo in the medical bay. Hux punched the control panel, the door whirred open, and he stepped in without so much as waiting on Kylo to let him in.
"There's been a breach," Hux said as calmly as he could but the shakiness in his voice is evident.
Kylo gently brushed the medical droid away but he does not look at the general, he simply said in contrast to the former's tone, "I know. I've felt it."
"Aren't you going to do something? She is cutting down the troopers' numbers with two lightsabers!" the general said through clenched teeth.
Without a word, Kylo's ears pricked up and he stood from where he sat, he donned his helmet, left the medical bay deliberately ignoring and leaving Hux. The young Sith marched through the corridor strewn with panic and alert, his eyes and focus set on the way to the hangar, he flips a portion of his cape away as his hand searches for the lightsaber strapped to his belt.
As he got closer to the hangar, he detached the lightsaber from his belt and readied it in his hand, the thumb resting on the trigger.
Ben…?
A distant echo—a female voice—rung through the hall but there's nobody there. The voice stopped him in his tracks, he searched for the source but he cannot find where it is coming from, he ignored it and continued his way to the hangar.
Ben, where are you?
"Get out of my head!" Kylo snarled, shaking the voice off of his mind as he clutched at his temples.
Momentarily, the voice faded and stopped bothering him. He looked around the hallway again, standing still to search for the voice but it is gone; for a moment, something in his mind emerged—a blurry memory.
Finally, he arrived in the hangar and saw the lightsaber-wielding intruder who just cut down another Stormtrooper. The tension shifted dramatically the moment Kylo arrived—the Stormtroopers ceased just by his presence and the commanders' collective panic subsided.
"Who are you?" Kylo asked.
"You are the master of this ship?" She sarcastically emphasizes on her first word and it sounded more like she was questioning it rather than stating the obvious.
Annoyed, he triggered his lightsaber, it buzzed and hissed.
"You are an easy kill." He hissed.
"Am I?"
Strange. Kylo sensed something so strong and so familiar from this woman.
Her shoulders heaved as she catches her breath but she does not retract her lightsaber.
"The Jedi are extinct—without the others, you are powerless. I destroyed the Jedi Order," Kylo robustly snarled.
He received no reaction; however, she responded with a gentle bow of the head and made an almost-silent scoff. Slowly, she raises her free hand in mid-air—which made the Stormtroopers cautiously lift their guns at her—and she reached for the rim of the helm. Whilst removing it, the helm set free a weave of long, brown locks—and finally revealed her face.
A pair of soft brown eyes meet Kylo's piercing ones.
"Who are you?" Kylo asked again.
And again—no response from her directly regarding her identity.
"Someone who does not hide in mask during a fight,"
Of course, as prideful as he is, he did not want to be brought down and insulted by some mere pilot girl who is in hold of two sabers. Clenching his fist in annoyance, he took his lightsaber and the sparking blade angrily whizzed out of the silver hilt followed by the crossguards on both sides. Accepting her challenge, he stepped forward to her, positions himself in his fighting stance and she chuckled.
"This'll be quick," She mutters.
"You'll regret underestimating me!" Kylo snarled at her.
"Let's see about that, shall we?"
Both sabers collided at one another, the girl—although ragged in her fighting style—manages to evade from Ren's attacks as compensation for her combat, she even literally saved her neck as he thrusted his lightsaber right next to her throat which gave her enough time to notice and examine the look of his lightsaber.
That's an unusual lightsaber, it's ragged and edgy. She thought to herself. Just like him.
She mentally assessed that he was strong—she admits that to herself very openly—and that the impact of his strikes were heavy and wisest move to do was to evade those heavy attacks instead of countering them as they would risk her balance and grip, but she defied her own advice when Kylo was coming at her and she had less than a few seconds to react; thanks to her reflexes she manages to reattach her lightsabers together into one again and block the attack, fortunately it was not as heavy as his usual attacks yet it brought a great deal to her balance which caused her to lean back as he takes the upper hand.
"You've a lot to learn. Let me teach you," Kylo softly tells her, trying to lure her in.
The fact that she's in much of wrestle with him, being offered to be mentored by him firsthand, she felt something very unusual—yes, even though she is Force-sensitive—and she couldn't further explain it at least to herself so she didn't trust this and kicked him away from her, before he could even picked himself up on his feet again, she used the Force as she quickly stretched out her arm with her palm open but Kylo was quick enough to do the same as a counter. It was now a battle of strength with the Force.
"You are quite strong," commented Kylo.
"Tch…" she grunts, pressuring herself to resist his own hold using the Force.
She lost the fight as she overworked herself. She jumped back and readied herself for another melee combat. The flurry of lightsaber parries and thrusts glowed in the center of the hangar.
His charging attack was immediately blocked by the Jedi girl—whose power was so strong that Kylo felt intimidated—she was nimble as she was smaller and leaner. Kylo Ren's attacks remained brutish and heavy but the Jedi's attacks were swift and difficult to evade. A battle between might against dexterity. Every single person in the hangar watched with such excitement and eagerness, it was their first time to meet someone who lasted in a fight against Kylo Ren.
"You're quick, I'll give you that," Kylo commented, "But your moves are reckless, directionless, and lacking the sufficient power to bring me down. You are getting exhausted, intruder,"
She denied those remarks, she readied herself in a stance, and advanced to lunge at him. This was his chance—he took advantage of her recklessness. He deflected her attack and followed a swing at her—she attempted to counter it with a shot from her blaster but he has snatched it before she could even pull the trigger. She was slowly growing exhausted, she is just denying it to herself.
Her fighting spirit impressed Kylo, although that was not enough to save her from his next move.
As she was about to pull out a detonator from her belt, he quickly put his arm in front of him and froze her right on the spot. A soft wave of his hand and he had put her to sleep, before her body could even touch the ground, Kylo caught her with the Force and easily scooped her up.
"Sir, what do we do with the ship?"
"Put it on lockdown,"
"Right away, sir," obediently, the hangar operator headed to the freighter and did what he was told.
Hux was about to meet Kylo halfway, just as he was about to say something, Kylo had beat him to it, "I'll be taking those."
The Stormtroopers picked up the girl's lightsabers and blaster pistol as Kylo Ren marched with the unconscious pilot in his arms. He brought her to a cell—he gently laid her down on the flat, uncomfortable bed, he took a good look at her as he brushed aside the hair that's covering her face, and he examined her—trying to grasp something but cannot.
The Stormtrooper handed over the lightsabers and blaster to Kylo for confiscation, he took it without any sort of hesitation.
He did not pay much mind to her blaster and her consumables, he was more fixated with her lightsabers.
He studied the design: the Kyber crystal is suspended between two electromagnetic ends that made it look like it was levitating, it was exposed but protected by glass panels. Sleek and elegant—in its own rustic way—were the suitable words to describe the overall appearance. The feel of the hilt was a perfect fit for the hand as it has an indention specifically where it should be held. Kylo noticed the joint that connects and detaches both lightsabers at the wielder's whim.
Kylo triggered both lightsabers—the red one first and then the blue—he studied and got a feel of both for himself. He searched for something in these weapons, something that would answer a question running in his mind that he cannot put into words.
But her very presence intrigues him.
She shifted a bit, causing Kylo to turn his attention to her. He thought of the attempt to enter her mind to see what she sees and has seen, know what she knows and have always known, and feel what she is feeling and has felt in all her years.
Sadness...
And then a quick shift to hate… anger… and even rage.
He was surprised. He wasn't expecting that at all.
What is it that brought this girl's emotions to such a dramatic transition?
Another thing that took Kylo aback was the blurriness of her memories, because only feelings manifested and not solid memories or images, and then the sharp pierce from Kylo's influence woke her up.
She jolted and sat up, startled by Kylo's presence before her. Before she could even scooch further away, she realized that she was unarmed, laid only on a single-file bed and having nowhere else to run with the dreaded master of the Knights of Ren standing right in front of her path.
This girl, a lightsaber-wielding pilot, and Kylo—a bad-tempered and ill-mannered young man—are together in the same room; a tension is present between the two, silent but intense, and it sent strange chills to both of them.
"Don't be afraid," Kylo, speaking through his mask, purred.
His voice almost made the room rumble and then abruptly stop. There was something about him that makes her feel almost too certain… too confident of a conclusion in the back of her mind.
She does not respond, she kept her gaze on him, her heart is pounding.
"You attempted to penetrate my mind," she said, catching her breath, "Of course I'd be afraid."
Kylo took a step back away from her, she examines the room around her.
"You have quite the interesting mind," he commented, "It's been a while since I last met somebody like you."
"When was the last time you met the likes of me?"
"I don't know," Kylo's voice trailed off. "I never counted."
"Have you killed them all?"
The question was uncalled for. From the way she spoke, it is as if she was making a snarky statement but it sounded like she meant it; immediately, his eyes widened, his ears pricked, and his chin adjusted—tilting it upwards. He noticed that she's rolled her eyes to his left hand. He shows the lightsabers blatantly in front of her.
"Are these yours?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course, they're mine,"
"I think you know exactly what I meant by that question,"
She does not answer him, not in the way he expected her to even if she knows what he wants to hear from her. Her expression changed, she tried her best to retain her straight face but failed. The need to get those lightsabers back in her hands is painted all over her face and Kylo used her need to get them back against her.
"Regardless whether they really are yours or not… You seem to have quite the taste in design," he commented in a taunting manner as he examines it in front of her, "Elegant yet rustic, but still sleek. Judging by the looks, the craftsmanship is impressive. Did you make them by your own hands or was it the true owner?"
Kylo Ren knows that Jedi and Sith alike construct their own lightsabers by themselves using the Force. Given the materials for the hilt, its mechanisms, and the Kyber crystal in hand, one must concentrate on how they want the hilt to end up looking. For young apprentices, it takes a great deal of focus—hence, making it a challenge worth its while—the same goes for Master Jedi and Sith Lords as well.
In that very moment, he felt something—familiar yet distant, something that he cannot remember and can remember at the same time. Is it possible?
She does not answer his question and yet he continued to critique her sabers, "It's been a while since I last saw a Jedi—oddly enough, you don't feel like one. But this sure is my first time to see someone so strong with the Force… wield two lightsabers! Not only that, they have different colors—unlike the usual choice to have the same color on both sabers."
She kept her glance on the sabers, she thought to herself how could she have let her guard down that led to have them taken away from her and used as a taunt?
"I am no Jedi," she finally spoke.
"While that may be true, you are still hiding something from me," Kylo growled.
"Am I? You could be mistaken, you know," she sheepishly said.
"You're cunning, I'll give you that, but you are not as clever as you thought you are," he added.
"I'll take it," she replied, still straight-faced.
"You can snark on me all you want," his baritone gave off an intimidating vibe, he stepped forward to show his authority, "But you're not getting out of this Star Destroyer so easily."
He marched out of the cell, ordered two troopers to guard the door, and retired to his own chambers. He has taken her lightsabers along with him as well, he handed over her blaster and pouch of bombs to the Stormtroopers. Left alone in the sterile, hollow shell of a room, the young pilot made use of the little room she has; she sat down on the floor, leaned against the side of the bed, relaxed her breathing, and focused at the dimly-lit ceiling.
