Edited chapter 1, I think it needed it. It reads way too fast and all over the place for the first 3 chapters, so I'll fix them up as I go.
Thanks again for reading!
They stood side by side on the bridge. Kylo Ren gripped the banister tightly, curled over himself. General Armitage Hux stood more formally, hands clasped, shoulders back.
"I don't care what you say General!" Kylo hissed, tendrils of dark hair casting shadows over his hollow eyes, " Go after them!" throwing himself back to standing, he swung around quickly to stalk towards the door. It was time to get ready for battle, he thought, pondering the situation while walking swiftly towards his new quarters aboard the Star destroyer.
Hux's informants had told them the location of a new resistance base on an outer rim planet. The enemies fighters were fuelling up to leave again, probably on another mission to gather what little allies still existed. Kylo refused to let the Resistance get away again. He wouldn't let her get away again. He had to cut them off at the source, stop the spread. Insolence like theirs couldn't continue to exist as a corrupting influence in his galaxy. They were the sole providers of injustice in his life, the collection of people who had rejected him, tried to kill him or sent him off for slaughter before he should have been able to defend himself. She was meant to be his family. He was meant to be his father. but they never acted like it. They were always too consumed in their own plights to be there for him, and when he needed them the most they would push him away. Oh how the tables had turned. He was now Supreme Leader Kylo Ren! He would strike down all who had wronged him. As he entered his quarters to dress in his battle robes, he felt a small tingle blooming over his skin, warm and electric, excitement.
Rey wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead that were threatening to drip into her eyes. She felt the quick bite of frustration. She didn't have time for distractions! She flicked another glance at the Jedi manuscripts laid open on the floor of her room aboard the Millennium Falcon and took a deep breath. Being frustrated was not going to solve this problem. The distinct growl of Chewbacca rang forth from the cockpit informing her they were close to their destination. "Damnit!" she lept up, sabre in hand. She looked back at the texts briefly, for reassurance, then attempted to ignite the blade. A buzzing emanated from the hilt before it grew uncomfortably warm at a rapid pace, blue sparks shooting from it in quick succession, charring the falcons walls before the buzzing noise suddenly dissipated.
"DAMNIT!" She screamed, the frustration overcoming her resolve. Chewie hollered from the cockpit, protesting his singed fur.
She had been trying for months to decipher the Jedi text and fix her sabre, but to no avail. She couldn't make sense of more than brief fragments of the passages, despite her skills with languages. The words just didn't seem to go together in a way that made logical sense. If they did, their meaning was no clearer to her than the meaning behind what she saw in the mirror that day in the darkness of Ach-Too. With no one to teach her and no guidance, it was an almost futile exercise. Her shoulders slumped forwards as once again she felt the pang of loneliness and regret that accompanied her thoughts of Luke and Kylo. She longed to be able to just speak to one of them again, for even a moment… She only wanted to ask them what she was meant to do.
The ship shuddered as it exited light speed. They'd arrived. She felt the colour drain from her face as she realised she'd be going into battle without her sabre. Without anyone else to help save the day, against Kylo Ren and the First Order none the less with an army at least eight times the size of theirs. Who were also especially pissed off at her, after she'd rejected Kylo and thwarted their efforts. She quickly grabbed her staff, made sure her blaster was still sheathed at her side before standing to watch their decent towards the jungle covered planet through the cockpit window. The blanket of green stretching from edge to edge of her view seemed almost comforting and soft. Nothing like what was about to happen down there… She nervously pulled the stray hairs from her face and fixed them back into her buns and she tried to steel herself for battle.
Poe Dameron stood in a small clearing alongside Leia Organa as the Falcon landed. Leia looked regal and in charge as ever, despite wearing simple battle ready shirt and pants, her blaster at her side. Poe stood more casually, dressed in his pilot attire, helmet under his arm. His face looked just as nervous as Rey felt. Leia and Poe took turns dictating orders to the small groups of troops around them. Everyone nodded occasionally as they spoke, occasionally responding with a "Roger!". Rey hurried off the falcon and joined the group closest to her. She didn't focus much on what Poe was saying. She already knew what she was meant to do after a brief holo-meeting at the beginning of her flight. She instead tried to push the ever-growing fear from her mind and replace it with the steady tones of her commanders voices.
How was Kylo going to react? She couldn't be entirely sure. She hadn't felt his presence or their connection through the force since that brief glimpse on Crait. Surely he'd still be angry at her for rejecting him, blowing him up, running, running again. A small part of her craved a reality where she could still contact him, the shimmering pearl of hope living inside her that he would come to his senses and return to the light sung with happiness whenever she thought of him. She wished for any way to be able to speak to him again. To help him realise where he truly belonged. To be able to ask him anything she needed, being he was the only other person alive who was learned in the force enough to rival Luke.
The familiar thud of a star destroyer exiting light speed resonated deep throughout the area. A brief moment of silence followed as the jungle life and Resistance soldiers listened in fear, staring up at the sky. "They're here." Stated Leia. Poe nodded, both were still watching for any glint or flash of ships descending. Poe turned back to face the group, face crinkled with worry.
"Right, we all know what we have to do. Let's not make this easy for them. I doubt they have brought their whole forces, but they will still outnumber us as least two to one. Make every shot, every life, count." a mix of excitement and dread in Poes' voice. Leias wise face turned away from the sky and almost smiled at Poe before looking back to the gathered forces and speaking with the sincerity that held her this position for so long. "May the force be with you." The grouping disbanded as the forces all ran quickly towards their various assignments. Leia rushed aboard the Falcon as Poe jumped into his X-wing. In a short moment the entire x wing squadron, or what was left of it, took off from the ground with the Falcon soaring off in the opposite direction.
Rey stood alone and still in the clearing as the roar of the engines and flurry of movement quickly dissipated. A surreal moment of quiet settled over her. She closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet, sticky air of the planet and began to focus her energy. She had to be quick in making her presence known otherwise the pilots didn't stand much of a chance up there. She nudged that worry aside and attempted to focus again on Lukes' teachings. She imagined every thought, emotion and image pour out of her mind like liquid spilling out her fingertips towards the ground. Once she emptied her mind, she let everything around her in. The energy of the jungle planet washed over her like a refreshingly cold wave, crashing against her mind and filling it with noise once again. She forced herself not to struggle against it or become too focused on any aspect, but instead welcomed the balance between light and darkness that was nature. Reaching further with her mind, she sought out what she must find.
Eventually she felt it. A large pocket of swirling darkness, several corrupt minds, full of anger, fury, jealousy, guilt, purposelessness, confusion. She had found the destroyer. With all her might she projected a single thought towards it, calling out, I'm here! Opening her eyes, she saw the small pebbles, sticks, and decaying leaves floating around her suddenly drop to the ground, along with her strength. That took more out of her than she thought it would. But then, she realised, she didn't really know her own limits yet. As her eyes turned skyward, she just hoped it had worked.
"She's down there! I can feel her." Kylo insisted, one hand gesturing furiously as his other gripped his lightsabre hilt, itching to light it. Hux's intel had been correct and he felt a certain smugness that had been emanating from the General suddenly turn to coldness. "Perhaps she is." He stated. "But at this rate we will cut through what's remaining of their fighter pilots and leave them effectively defenceless." Hux's smugness returned.
"I don't CARE!" Bellowed Kylo, slamming his fist against a control desk, "None of it matters if she gets away! None of our fighters, none of our ships are equipped to chase or track down a rouge Jedi and the Millennium Falcon if they get away!"
Hux glared at the Supreme Leader, the kind of look one gives to someone utterly pitiful and disgusting, "But it is not the best course of winning this war. Alone she is nothing. She cannot rebuild the resistance without what's left of them. We must act now to crush…" Hux gasped suddenly, small flecks of saliva escaped his mouth, onto his chin. Kylos fingers twitched ever so slightly again and the grip tightened. "Are you ready to obey my orders yet General?" the Supreme Commander watched, almost too calmly, an edge of satisfaction in his voice. A broken "Yes" creaked out of the blue tinged generals mouth before he collapsed to the floor breathing as deep as his rapidly bruising throat would allow, as if he'd almost drowned. "Now…" Said Kylo with the eerie calm still in his voice, "Take us down there." He turned dramatically, black cloak billowing out behind him as he stalked from the bridge towards the hangar. Hux picked himself up quickly and scurried off behind him, shouting commands at passing Stormtroopers and administrative staff as he went.
Kylo, Hux and a small team of pilots, navigators and guards boarded his shuttle as squadrons of stormtroopers boarded their transports. Four larger transports were loading AT AT and various high-tech weapons for the shuttle guards. Kylo revelled in the sight, a swirling metallic ocean of grey, black and white. He knew this would be the end of them. The Resistance scum would finally succumb to the dark side or die. Hot coals of rage burned inside him. Oh how he looked forward to finally finishing the work of his Grandfather, becoming the most powerful and successful leader in the galaxy, succeeding where others had failed. He would finally be able to implement control and start fixing the damage dealt by countless inept leaders and governments that had come before him. It ought to stop people constantly looking at him with pity or disgust. He would avenge his betrayals and failures today and finally destroy all those still alive that had hurt him.
Hux on the other hand, looked quiet, contemplating with a tiny ebb of fear shown only by his hands clasped behind his back, absentmindedly picking at his fingernails. Kylo felt a wave of disgust. He didn't understand why the general didn't share his excitement at the scene. As the final troops loaded onto their transports, the full ships began filing out of the hanger, hurtling towards the planet's surface.
The decent was so quick that Kylo didn't have time to give orders to his squadrons. He wasn't concerned as he was too distracted by the ships burning through the atmosphere, death raining fire from above, he mused. A second distraction caught his eye, a small form he saw standing in a clearing just south of where his ships touched down causing his stomach to churn with anticipation. He would finally face her off once again!
The four AT AT's were deployed rapidly, standing menacingly at their full height in the tree canopy as his troopers streamed out of their transports into the dense carpet of ferns. "Move south, towards that clearing. Do not engage anyone until I say." Kylo demanded. Hux shot him a sideways glance before announcing the orders to respective teams. The flow of white troopers almost looked like an avalanche moving steadily across the jungle. The shuttle and AT AT's had more difficulty moving through such a terrain. Branches and leaves smacking against windshields, screeching down the sides of cockpits. As the shuttle finally broke through the grasping fingers of the jungle into the clearing, Kylo felt the air leave his chest. Staring straight at the mysterious single person at the other edge of the clearing, all rational thought drained from him.
She stood alone and fierce, like a mountain on a plane. Garbed in her usual scavenger, battle ready attire. Her staff in her hands and hair pulled back. He noted that she didn't look like she was about to attack. Or that there was anyone with her. She looked somewhat… relaxed? Surely she wasn't stupid enough to think she could face down such a force alone. Or perhaps… A deep desire awoke in Kylo. He shifted uncomfortably as his emotions ran hot through him. Perhaps she had rethought his offer. A slight smile curled the corner of his lips as he looked past his long dark hair, through the cockpit and straight into her shining hazel eyes. "Don't shoot!" He barked, his body humming with need to be near her. As the words left his mouth she turned and ran, jungle swallowing her figure from his gaze with ease.
"AFTER HER!" He yelled, slamming his first into the seat in front of him, fury replacing desire. The troops burst forwards, lashing against the jungle until it yielded and they flowed in. The larger AT AT's and shuttle followed in the paths left by the streams of troopers. The sound of branches breaking, metal scraping against wood and thousands of marching feet almost masked the sounds of the first blasters firing. Kylo and Hux both snapped to attention, urgently scanning the view out the cockpit window for the location of fire. Several more shots began to ring out and stormtroopers began falling to the ground with smoking wounds. What was happening? The burning rage inside Kylo flamed to an uncontrollable level, consuming every rational thought and replacing it with a desperate urge to destroy everything around him. But he had to channel it, he thought.
Blaster fire was hailing in upon his troops from everywhere. They were surrounded. But not a single enemy was visible. "WELL?" Screamed Hux in frustration. "Fire outwards, in all directions!" Commanded Kylo, the general mimicking his words to the respective troop commanders. The jungle lit up, a blinding display of colour reflecting off the blanket of snowy white uniforms. A cacophony of noise adding to the confusion. Troopers continued to fall but Hux couldn't confirm a single hit on any of the enemy warriors.
"Shouldn't we force forward and try to break their circle?" He asked, watching the Supreme Leader for an answer. Kylo had no answer. His mind was still consumed by anger, he desperately needed to be out there. The weight of his lightsabre pressed insistently against his hip.
A transmission from the star destroyer interrupted, "Supreme leader, this is star destroyer command." The voice shook over the holo transmission, "We're taking heavy fire. It seems their ally ships have joined the battle." Kylo remained motionless, seemingly not having heard the transmission. Hux's stomach sank as he knew it was already halfway over. The ground he'd painstakingly secured against the Resistance in previous battles was slowly being washed away as the tides turned.
Poe beamed as the transmission came in "The plan is working!" gushed Rey, her excitement obvious despite the crackling of the audio though his headset. "Well I'm glad, being it was my plan and all" Poe playfully taunted. The enemy pilots hadn't given up despite their losses and the reinforcement of the new rebel command ship arriving. He'd made sure his pilots knew to stay wide of the destroyer and watch each others six. A TIE fighter screamed into position on his tail.
"BB 8, divert all power to the left thruster!" BB 8 beeped once before the x wing flung sideways, shoving Poe against his seat harness with force enough to wind him. He let off two shots in quick succession as the ship swung round, directly hitting the fighter sending it hurtling towards the planet. BB 8 beeped again as the ship resumed a straight trajectory. They couldn't throw these old birds around too much he mused.
Circling around, he resumed stalking the carefully researched perimeter he laid out for the battle, picking off stray fighters and keeping an eye out for any pilots in trouble but the fight was mostly over. This wasn't an assault, he reminded himself, glancing at the gleaming hunk of metal that begged to be thrown from the sky. He shook his head, visor clattering in his helmet, resisting the temptation to take out the destroyer. This was a 'hold back the tide' mission. They had to provide enough distraction and cover to prevent enemy air forces firing on their ground forces. He chuckled at the memory of Leia laughing at the absurdity of he, Poe Dameron, proposing a plan to prevent any casualties and actively avoiding a shot at taking out a star destroyer.
The plan would work though. He'd chosen this planet specifically for it's jungle, the perfect place for a trap. He planted groups of troops in a radius around a path he'd mapped out for Rey to run through. She was his bait. He knew from previous encounters that Kylo Ren's rage would force him to chase after a fight with her. He felt smug satisfaction at enacting revenge against the mop-topped force wielder for the long scar left down Finns back.
The dense jungle allowed perfect cover for his small group of camouflaged troops to strike the standout gleamingly reflective forces before they realised where the fire was coming from. Finn lead the ground forces. Poe knew he was the best man for the job and could quickly counter any manoeuvres the enemy might try. Leia had returned to their command ship on the Falcon to bring it into battle after the trap on the ground was sprung. They were ensuring no enemy air forces were free to reinforce those on the ground, not that they could easily manoeuvre through the jungle. He also knew the enemy wouldn't risk firing the Star destroyers weapons towards the ground forces with the treetop cover lest it hit their Supreme Commander. All in all a good plan, he congratulated himself. The hardest part had been convincing a native of the planet to play informant to the First Order, feeding them the false intel. He knew Leia would be pleased with the outcome of it all and forgive him for his shortcomings on the last command ship. His stomach sank a little as he remembered talking with Rose about her sister. The one Poe got killed…
He shook his head again, to clear the thoughts, then spun back around in a casual arc and resumed another run, taking out two more TIE fighters in his wake.
Hux watched the remainder of the battle unfold, entire squadrons shot down by unseen enemies, his proud forces melting to the ground. Glimpses of TIE fighters cascading through the atmosphere like a meteor shower as they crash landed, burning holes through the treetop. They were overrun. He knew this would happen. He was furious, but he had prepared for failure, as any good war tactician does. Right now, a group of three of his most trusted troops dressed in the garments of the native villagers were slipping unseen into a safe position. They had orders to join the resistance as the fighting died down, claiming to be inspired by the fierce battle. They were to do anything the Resistance asked of them, gain their confidence and report everything back exclusively to Hux on their encoded transmitters. He knew it wouldn't be long before Kylo began planning to remove him from the equation and this was not only his contribution to winning this war, his war, but an assurance on his own life.
The screech of metal against metal drew Hux and Kylos attention. Two of their four guard AT AT's were collapsing against each other, having sustained critical damage to their systems. A fireball burst from their imploding frames, swirling upward, showering burning leaves and ash through the air. The cockpit of their third AT AT suddenly exploded into flames which dissipated as fast as they appeared. It's legs bowed, charred remains of the pilot fell forward and became impaled on a remaining shard of cockpit glass, arms left swaying in sync with the motion of the falling colossal mechanism and the sway of the trees in the wind. Resistance blaster fire concentrated on the remaining guard AT AT and against their shuttle deflector shield. It wouldn't hold much longer.
"Get us out of here! Now!" Roared Kylo, his face suddenly flashing to life with fury and frustration like lightning across pale sky. As thoughts of defeat soured Kylos insatiable rage, his mind scrambled for ideas. Over and over he fixated on the image of himself out on the battlefield, but Hux had coached him that this was his position now, commanding from the cockpit. He could hardly direct the First Orders army while swinging a lightsabre, Hux had said. Kylo knew the battle would have gone much differently if he had only followed his instinct and left the shuttle to fight.
The command shuttle was quiet save for the steady sound of blasters and cannons off their weakening deflector shield. They spun around as they ascended, tearing through the jungle canopy, and rapidly exited the atmosphere. As the blue of the sky was replaced by the blackness of the galaxy, they were met with the sight of a large rebel ship exchanging fire with their star destroyer. Dotted around the ship were a squadron of x wings, half the size of their original TIE fighter forces, yet they had managed to dissipate most of the Orders fighters. A few stray shots rang off the deflector shields as they approached the destroyer hanger, but none enough to damage the small ship. The Resistance fire was still focused on the remaining TIE fighters and they seemed to be sticking to a wide perimeter.
As soon as the hanger doors closed a sense of safety washed over the crew. Standard chatter of the routines for docking and evacuation restarted as they exited the shuttle, once again exchanging orders over transmitters with remaining ground forces. Hux remained statuesque, continuing his silence until last crew member was gone, leaving him alone with the Supreme Commander.
"How could you let this happen again?" Hux said, accusation obvious in his tone.
"What did you just say to me?" Growled Kylo, his first thoughts of the insubordination Hux was displaying. He thought Hux had been in the First Order long enough to know better than to speak to his Supreme Commander in such a way.
"I mean, Supreme Commander, twice now we have had to watch as the rebels get away. Could you not, perhaps, see the usefulness in listening to the recommendations of those more… experienced in this area of war?" He asked, hesitation in his voice but an unflinching challenge in his eyes, challenging Kylos resolve.
The insolence! Kylo's anger took over. The rage at Hux's challenge. The rage at Rey's escape, yet again! At her rejection. He was deafened to Hux's continuing speech. Kylo was sick of being berated and attacked by those who deemed themselves superior to him in some way. He would not put up with it any longer. He was finally in charge, he would not let it slip away. Time to finally make an example of the fiery General.
Kylos fingers twitched ever so slightly. Hux's face instantly clouded with discomfort. Kylo would drag him kicking and screaming before their gathered forces to show them what happens to anyone who questioned their Supreme Leader. Hux began to cough but continued to talk. "But, it wasn't a" He choked briefly, face reddening, back arching "…a complete failure."
"What?" Kylo was taken aback.
"Spy…" Hux gasped out. Kylo relaxed his assault slightly to allow him to speak. "We have a spy in their ranks. As soon as they report to me on their encoded transmitters, I will know where their real base is." Kylo released his grasp, Hux falling to the floor with a satisfying thud.
