Alarms. The hum of the Finalizer buzzing through the air. And the siren's song of the Force whispering gently to him.
He goes through the motions of taking off his helmet, absently thinking that he'd wished he had done so before this whole thing began so he didn't have to keep doing it over again. Casting his eyes to the girl's sleeping form, he sighs sadly and shakes his head, "Well, that didn't work at all," he grumbles.
He runs a hand down his face, grimacing when he feels the leather of his gloves. With a growl, he pulls them off with his teeth and spits them onto the floor. He rubs his face again, and pushes his hand back through his hair. Getting to his feet, his shoulders fall as he drops his head back to face the ceiling and tromps across the floor like a child, "What – do – you – want – from – me?" Each word uttered in rhythm with his clumsy steps.
Now at the viewport, looking down at Starkiller Base, he considers how it feels like it's been months since he felt any sense of pride at the thought of it, The Jewel of the First Order. Quirking his lips, he thinks it could very well have been months. He's lost all concept of time at this point.
At some point while staring out of the viewport, his focus shifted from the base to his reflection in it. His face was pale, eyes dark and tired, hair a tousled mess of raven locks, then… nothing. His reflection seemed to end at his head, given the blackness of the outside and the darkness of his clothes.
Unnerved at the sight, he removed his belt and shrugged off his heavy outer robe. He was beginning to feel restrained and suffocated in all his Knightly regalia, anyway. He tossed them onto an empty cot and ran his hands through his hair, grabbing a fistful at the roots and tugging just slightly in frustration. His headache was once again throbbing, the clenching of his teeth no doubt exacerbating the issue. He dropped his hands to his sides and looked down at himself. His white tunic badly wrinkled and his black trousers stuffed into his big black boots. He wasn't sure why he was assessing his appearance, it wasn't like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Not that he really had anywhere TO go. He tugged mindlessly at the tunic, pulling it out of his trousers and feebly stretching out the wrinkles. At least he was feeling a bit more comfortable, he supposed.
He turned again to gaze out of the viewport, his head leaning against the cool surface, relishing in just feeling quiet for the first time in a very, very long time. Suddenly, he heard a soft shuffling behind him.
"Where am I?" a soft, lilting voice drifted across the room. It had been ages since he had last heard that voice. He took a resigned breath, Well, shit. but didn't turn to face her.
"You're my guest." He said, his voice sad and bored.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty. He turned then, when he met her eyes her expression softened from one of cold fear, to curious confusion. He held her gaze for a moment and then shook his head.
"I don't know." Ren said simply, and while it wasn't exactly true, it was how he felt about that question right at that moment.
"Are you a prisoner here? Where are the guards?" she struggled against the restraints, "Let me go!"
She kept a wary eye between him and the doors, as though she expected an army to burst through at any moment. He stood there bewildered, never having conversed with her when she wasn't brimming with hate towards him. She doesn't know it's you, jackass. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, then he slowly walked towards her. She stiffened at his approach, still unsure of who he was or where they even were.
Her expression changed again as he came right up beside her, his hands moving to loosen the bonds on her wrists. She stared up at him, her hazel eyes bright and wide. She stayed in a stunned silence as he quietly moved around the cot removing her restraints, stopping at the foot and looking at her with a blank expression. She sat up hesitantly, rubbing at her wrists. He could tell she was trying to figure out what the feeling of electricity she could sense all around her was, and he could see it was making her nervous.
"Don't be afraid." He said, "I feel it, too."
Her eyes flashed, then, "What? What is it?"
He answered truthfully, "I don't know. But, you should go." He walked over to a console beside the door, overrode the locking mechanism to ensure their privacy, and then pulled up a blueprint of the ship. She could escape quite easily on her own, he knew, but felt compelled to assist her however he could. Not knowing when or if this loop would ever stop, he figured it couldn't hurt to act like it would.
While he studied the blueprint, the girl had slipped off the bed and crept up next to him. He almost jumped when he suddenly heard her right beside him,
"What are you doing?" she was looking curiously at the console, her eyes darting back and forth between his and the screen before them. He ignored the little flutter he felt in his chest at her nearness and how easy it had been to earn her trust. Don't get cocky, Solo. That voice in his head chirped. Instead of responding to her, he pulled away from the console and walked towards a far corner of the room. He pushed out with the Force, feeling for a hidden panel that he was sure covered an old intake duct that was just big enough to fit her small frame. When he found it, he gave a swift kick to the wall and the panel fell to the floor. By now she had followed him over, still curious and now impatient with his silence.
"What are you doing?" she asked again, a hardness in her voice that had not been there before. He turned to face her again, "Letting you go." He watched her fluster confusedly over a response, then continued,
"You can access a minor hanger from this duct, it's about 1 hectometer away, but you only have to take it a few decameters at a time. From here it's up 3 decks, and then keep starboard until you're there."
"How am I supposed to know when I'm there?" she asked incredulously.
"You'll know." He said, not elaborating any further. He turned from her, opening a supply hatch against the opposite wall and pulled out a blaster and a box of rations. He stuffed the rations into a bag and slung it over her head, then placed the blaster in her hand. He once again looked at her with a face void of expression,
"You shouldn't have any problem navigating the ducts. This ship is not unlike the old Imperial star destroyers you had on Jakku." Her ever-changing expression was now one of shock,
"How did you-?" she started, but he cut her off abruptly,
"There's not a lot of time. Han Solo and your friend will be here soon to rescue you, and none of you should be on the planet or anywhere near here for longer than necessary. Get to the hanger, I'll make a shuttle available to you and if you hurry, you can catch them before they get to close to the base." He gestured toward the open hatch. She seemed hesitant, her head was bursting with questions and Ren was offering her no relief.
There was a pregnant pause while they stared at each other, at an impasse. With some trepidation, he pushed against her with the Force, just a subtle encouragement, to help her feel at ease. He could see her brow furrow, sensing her recognition of the sensation in her head. He could feel her suspicion bubbling up under the surface.
"Who are you?" she said, hesitantly, her voice low and fearful.
Seeing that the game was up, Ren moved to Plan B.
"You will leave this ship and escape this system." He pressed. Her brow softened and she blinked rapidly for a moment.
"I… I will leave this ship and escape this system." She echoed, then stooped beside the hole in the wall, a veil of hurt and confusion on her face, and then she was gone.
Ren didn't know how long he stared at the empty hole in the wall. Sensing her every movement through the ship, scurrying up and through the walls like a rat. Like a desert rat. His mind offered. "Shut up." Ren said aloud.
When she reached the hanger, he reached out and pressed her again, then felt her move with that quiet grace she had used to sneak up on him at the console to slip through the bay and towards a shuttle that she was feeling curiously drawn to.
After several more moments, he could feel she had gone, but not before he felt a curious and tentative poke in his mind. It was her. He found himself unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face, muscles long neglected in his cheeks twitching in alarm.
He walked over to his seat by the, now empty, bed and sat down just as a pounding came against the doors.
"What's your plan, Solo?" he asked himself quietly.
"Lord Ren?! Are you in there, sire? We are getting the doors open!" he heard a muffled voice say through the durasteel.
Quickly getting to his feet, he called his saber to his hand. He planted himself right in front of the doors and waited. No, seriously, what is your plan? He thought.
"Fuuuck if I know…" he sang through his teeth. The doors opened then, and the corporal moved to rush in but startled at Ren's nearness and appearance.
"My… lord?" the young man squeaked. The two storm troopers who had accompanied him stood dumbly in the corridor, their blasters held ready against their chests and their big helmets frowning at him. The corporal continued, "Sir… we've arrived… there was a… an… unauthorized shuttle and we… couldn't reach you, for, for orders." The confounded boy couldn't seem to reconcile the mighty Kylo Ren standing plainly in the medbay, looking as he did. He searched the room with his eyes, noting the clothes strewn about and the hole in the wall and the – "Sir! The prisoner… where?" words, it seemed, were still failing the poor man.
Shit or get off the pot, kid.
Ren held up his hand and pressed all three of the men before him into sleep. They collapsed onto the floor and he briskly stepped over them, quickly moving towards the lift. He still had no concrete plan, he was moving on impulse. As he homed in on the bridge, he began checking off things in his head, and considered what he could do from here. Killing himself hadn't worked to fix Time, the destruction of Starkiller hadn't done it either. Killing his father certainly didn't do anything just as not killing him hadn't done anything. The girl had died, the girl had lived, now the girl had escaped. Maybe that was it? No, she had escaped before. Phasma had been killed, Hux… hadn't. Was he supposed to kill Hux? Was he supposed to kill anyone? He bit hard at the inside of his cheek as his thoughts tumbled around this rough outline of a plan he was drafting.
Rushing out onto the bridge from the lift turned several curious heads his way. No one knew who he was, he realized, and he wasn't in a uniform. In a second, blasters were out and orders were being shouted. His lightsaber roared to life at his side and, with recognition of the weapon, a hush fell hard over the room. The panic subsided almost faster than it had begun. He returned a hard gaze to each one he received, still holding his saber in a defensive stance. His heart was pounding in his throat but he betrayed no fear, his ever-expressive face channeling alarm and outrage instead. He adjusted his posture and stood as straight and tall as he could and held his saber out before him, pointing it at the captain. He pressed, "You will order your men to leave the bridge." What are you doing, Ren? He questioned himself, his grip on the saber tightened as his hands threatened to shake.
The captain blinked stupidly at him, clearly confused, but after a pause he stammered, "I will order my men to leave the bridge…" then he turned his head and repeated the order to his men. Ren held fast to his position as the crew warily flowed off the bridge in a haze of bewilderment and unease. The captain, his brows knit and his eyes wild, stood trembling before Ren, who now slowly stepped towards him. The saber was still burning hotly, the blade now ghosting over the captain's shoulder as the space between to the two men narrowed.
"You will steer the ship directly into the thermal oscillator of the base." He said. He'll WHAT?! The voice in his head cried. The captain seemed to agree, his face cast a look of terror,
"I'll what?!"
Ren blinked, thoughts racing faster than he could process them. If he could destroy the base AND the Finalizer, the bulk of the First Order's muscle and intelligence should be wiped out. The girl is safely away, Solo and his crew haven't likely arrived yet, maybe this will be the thing that brings everything together. Though he had a nagging feeling this wasn't going to work, at this point, Ren was willing to try almost anything.
"You will steer the ship directly into the thermal oscillator of the base. Quickly." He added, not wanting to give anyone time to escape the base or the ship. He felt the press take hold and the captain mumbled his order back as he scrambled to the helm to follow through. Ren rushed to the communications console and scanned the ship's log to see if Starkiller had been alerted to anything since his arrival on the bridge. Nothing amiss. He quickly deactivated outgoing comms and sealed all hanger doors and escape pods. The ship lurched to life, moving slowly like a great beast rousing from slumber, but gaining momentum from both the engines and the alluring gravity of the planet. Almost immediately, there was a cacophony of alarms as Starkiller noted the ship's unauthorized descent. He ignored them, but ran to the weapons station, prepared to fire at any ships or shuttles attempting to leave the base.
It didn't take very long for the ship to steer true to its target, though it felt like time was oozing. Ren could feel the planet pulling greedily at the massive ship as it broke atmosphere and began hurtling towards the surface. Ren smirked to himself as he heard a comm override from the base, it was Hux; screaming, spitting and hurling orders and threats in his shrill, panicked voice. Good to know that the ginger nightmare hadn't tried to flee.
Ren thought he heard and felt the impact, albeit briefly, but the chorus of system alarms and Hux's mewling and the hull burning swallowed up all discernable sounds. He could still hear the alarms after everything went dark...
With a sigh, he dropped his head back in his seat, his helmet clanking loudly against the back of the metal chair.
"What do you say, princess?" he drawled aloud to the girl, still asleep on the cot. She didn't answer.
