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Chapter Ten
Kylo Ren paced the conference room, leaving unsettled dignitaries in his wake. He did not assert himself into their conversations. He barely acknowledged their presence. His mind was dwelling on his future moves, trying to suss out a game plan that would lead him to everything he wanted without exposing him as a traitor to the First Order.
But what did he want?
Rey's face leaped to the forefront of his mind and he shook it away reflexively. He couldn't let himself be blinded by sentimentality. He was in the lion's den, she was not. If he left now to join her, the First Order would still be a forgettable foe against the galaxy. His place was here.
From the council there came a call to arms, a call to fortify their defenses, a call to cut losses and count what little profit they had; but Kylo Ren did not hear those calls. He did not care.
A unified army for a unified galaxy was their creed, but that was impossible. A gun needed a target.
What target did they have? The New Republic? They were the only order left in the galaxy and they already shot out it's heart. The First Order could go further, rip the rest of it apart, rebuild everything from the ensuing chaos. It would be easy to create a government to First Order specifications. Any nails that were too far removed from their ideologies would get the hammer.
But Kylo Ren wasn't sure if that was his calling.
Most of the officials at the meeting were holograms - projected from their offices. Some were physically present, uncomfortable with Kylo Ren treading about behind them. There was one exception.
Sitting in her polished combat armor with a newly manufactured bionic leg was Captain Phasma. Her helmet didn't move, but Kylo Ren could feel her eyes follow him around the room. Phasma had been in the medical laboratory for the past week recovering from the destruction of The Supremacy. Her body was a mangled wreck, but now it seemed as if she could return to work.
Or was urged to.
General Armitage Hux's death put Phasma in a unique place of power. The military would not accept the shift of leadership to a mystic. Now that Phasma was in uniform again, they turned to her to second guess everything Kylo Ren was trying to accomplish. Kylo Ren was only a figurehead, but that would change soon if he wasn't careful.
Phasma looked at him like a shark that smelt blood in the water; it was disconcerting. Did she see his weakness behind his emotionless mask? Did she know that he regained his soul?
"We have confirmed that forces are amassing on Lothal. We can also confirm that Ezra Bridger is their leader." said Baron Marshe, who oversaw the manufacturing of their fleet. "Their numbers are growing with every day that passes, and I can only promise fighters now that my supply lines are being watched. Another dreadnought, or even a cruiser will take me at least a year." His hologram turned to another, "It seems we wouldn't have crew for them anyway. How are the new cadets?"
Captain Tang bobbed his head. "We are training them on Mirialan, but they-"
"Are not the caliber I can accept," Phasma finished for him. The attention of the room shifted to her. "I will not invest in greenlings who fight like children. We will make do with what we have."
General Noran shook her head at Phasma in disbelief. "We have suffered 60 to 70% losses in officers over the last month… we are running a skeleton crew-"
"I am not having untrained and untested units in my fleet. That is final." Phasma's tone cut through the General's protests. Noran Looked to Kylo Ren, expecting him to intervene, but he did not. Captain Tang's mouth quivered in anger as if to defend his recruits, but someone else took the silence and ran with it.
"What of our objectives? We have yet to integrate into the centralist government. Our destruction of the Hosian system and the event on Ryloth has created widespread disorder. Many are latching onto the ashes of the senate for protection."
"Many have also taken interest in alternative leadership." A tall Neimoidian mentioned casually. "There are dozens that were voiceless in the senate and wish to be a part of something greater. Our numbers may not grow, but our resources have been well managed." It was a stroke of Chairman Gunto's own ego, considering he was responsible for that management.
"Chairman, please elaborate." There was venom in General Noran's words. She was certain the Neimodian was lying. "I've been going through our finances. With the destruction of two of our biggest ships and the Starkiller base… how are we not in the red?" Eyebrows raised.
"I would like to know that too." Chief Engineer Wutack piped up, also sensing the lie. "We are still paying for materials that were decimated in the resistance attack."
"We have recycled many of our investments into other more prosperous endeavors. Research is a valuable asset and we have sold some of our technologies to vested parties." Gunto said cheerfully.
Phasma's mask shifted to the Chairman. "You are selling First Order secrets to other organizations? How is this not treason?" She said the word like a threat.
An old woman dressed in a lab coat spoke up in defense of the Chairman. "Those organizations have folded into ours - increasing our technological, and in some cases, political progress. Any that haven't yielded were destroyed and their research and development reabsorbed and examined. How do you think we discovered light speed tracking? Some clever Arkanian in our lab thought to claim the idea wholly as his own. Not his brightest move."
Captain Phasma seemed mollified by this for she said nothing further.
"What of the diplomatic charade with the New Republic?" Baron Marshe looked up at Kylo Ren expectantly. This caused everyone to shift their gaze to the shadow they had been trying to avoid this whole time.
"I will speak with their representative tonight on Mon Cala." Ren said without looking at the Baron. His thoughts were on the future. "Ezra Bridger prefers to work in the shadows. The New Republic has put him out of position by placing him in our sights. I intend to use this advantage to disband his army."
"How?" Phasma said in monotone, unbelieving.
Kylo Ren looked over to her, his eyebrows knitting in frustration at her question.
"You dare question me?" There was no heat in the words, just cold curiosity. The wellspring of his anger no longer bubbled easily to the surface.
"Yes." Phasma said boldly; daring him to retaliate.
The expressions of the council were made of marble as they looked upon the two of them, but Kylo Ren knew their loyalties. There was interest in their greedy eyes and the subtle flavor of pride in their posture. They wanted to know which puppet was really in charge.
"Their forces were are brought together by anger; dispelling it will cast disorder among them." He answered calmly, causing a few carefully crafted faces to slip and show their surprise. Even Phasma seemed taken back by the reply.
"You still haven't explained how." She said after a moment's pause.
Kylo Ren resumed his pacing. "I know who was behind the incident on Ryloth - a rogue member of the Resistance. I will hand them this information, with proof, and let them point the fingers at each other. While they squabble in true diplomatic fashion, we will unify the smaller rim worlds for our cause. This will re-establish a foundation for our Order and allow us to raze any who oppose us." He stopped his pacing and straightened, turning to the table with his hands behind his back.
"We have largest fleet." Kylo Ren looked to the Baron, "The latest technology." He looked to the lady in white and Chairman Gunto, "And the best trained militia in the Galaxy." He looked to Phasma and smiled.
A shiver went through many present. Who was this man that used to grovel at Snoke's feet and tantrum like a child? Who was this leader that now spoke with such confidence?
"Let us use our resources to conquer worlds and create a better, stronger galaxy." He finished, confirming to anyone that could see or hear that he was in charge. Despite the holograms, Kylo Ren could feel the shift of loyalty in the room.
I am not the man you think I am… He thought, savoring the smoke screen he created for himself.
Captain Phasma continued to say nothing, but Kylo Ren could feel her eyes burning into him through the slots of her helmet.
Rey woke to dim lighting and the sensation of a hand over hers. A fog lingered at the edges of her perception, blanketing everything with a false sense of warmth and softness. In her sleepy stupor, Rey shifted her head to see Finn, slumped in a chair, his head lolled to one side as he snored gently. A rush of happiness swelled inside of her.
While her friend slept on, Rey took a look around the room. To her unaccustomed eye, this place was fit for royalty. There were framed paintings on the walls and carpet below. Comfortable looking sofas were against the wall, some of their matching seats were dragged over to the bed she slept on. Rey had never slept on a bed before. She experienced her hammock on Jakku, the bunks in the Falcon and the cots at the Resistance bases; but this was something else. Some sort of cloud… shaped into a square.
With effort, the girl sat up, tensing for the pain that never came. The sensation across her skin was numbed, like she had pinched a nerve somewhere. There was the dull feeling of something around her ankle, but her stirring to look at it made Finn snort and bolt awake. His eyes dashed to Rey's, and when they connected he broke out into a relieved smile.
Rey couldn't help but smile in reply. "Finn..." she started to say, but realized everything she felt was in that one breath. She was so glad to see him again. Gods, so much had happened since she last saw his face. Rey expected him to ask if this was "Force Stuff" like usual, but he didn't. She watched the thousand watt grin dim down slowly into something more awkward. It was a face that was worried and trying miserably to hide it.
Finn's eyes slid down to his hand on hers. Rey's own expression echoed his.
"Where is Poe?" Rey asked, wondering if that was the source of the worry.
"He's with Commander Bridger. They had meeting with the First Order. They're having a disagreement over something." Finn paused, uncertain if he should go further. To Rey's shock, she could feel fear in his mind - clear as day.
"The First Order accused you of about thirty counts of murder." Finn stared at the wall, unable to look his friend in the eye.
The calmness Rey felt in the face of such a heavy statement was out of place.
She drew upon the serenity she found while on Ahch-to, when Luke told her to reach out and find the Force. Everything was right in front of her then. Actions and consequences, order and chaos, peace and war. Rey ended that lesson by tumbling towards the darkness. She felt the same again when Leia died, and again when Kylo Ren attacked her. Despite this, the light held her fast. She gravitated towards it. Yearned for it. She knew now that it was the Force's design. She needed to be the light whilst Kylo Ren embodied the darkness. She couldn't be anything else.
The light strengthened her even now.
There was a multitude of regret for her actions, tied into a sense of loss and a fear of consequences. Yet she forgave herself. Accepted it. Moved past it. The people around her couldn't see the flow of events the way she did. Rey learned from the past, accepted it and was ready for the next event. The people around her were stuck in the past. Wasting energy… churning it into sentimentality. They weren't viewing both sides. Weren't embracing both perspectives.
Oh gods, she was thinking like a Jedi.
Rey knew now - to be a Jedi wasn't to be absent of emotion, it was to understand all emotions. The good, the bad, and the ability to find a place between them - to walk that path.
"Those people are dead because of me Finn." She whispered, eyes unfocused before seeking out her friend and pleading for understanding. "Leia died and I could do nothing. I lost control of my grief and it came out wrong. I would have died there too if it wasn't for Ben."
"What… are you saying?" Finn said faintly, not believing what his friend had done. He had been the first to defend her when the story came out. To argue that it couldn't be the truth.
Rey slipped her hand from Finn's and looked at it. "I know this is hard to hear, but trust me. I know my place in all of this now." She took a deep breath and slowed down her explanation to give him more time to digest the words.
"I used the Force to contact Kylo Ren… hoping he could save his mother. It was too late… and I went too far. I almost burned alive. He brought me back." She turned her palms over, there were freshly healed blemishes on both of them. She pulled off her blankets and rolled up her sleep wear to see the scarring on her legs. It was bad, but only aesthetically so. She flexed her calves and the muscle was in tact. There was a strange link of metal around her ankle that flashed a few colors. It distracted her from her train of thought.
Finn brought her back before the questions could form. "Those… burns… you did that?"
Rey frowned and looked back to her friend. "I came out on Dantooine in the middle of a burning farmhouse. Kylo Ren had killed everyone Poe and I recruited."
"But I looked at your medical files… there was other… damage." He was nervous, again unable to meet her eyes.
Rey spend a moment confused, until she grasped what he was not saying. So they knew about Kylo Ren's torture. All of it.
Her ears went pink. "He tried to turn me to the dark side, but I ultimately resisted. It… changed things. We both understand the Force and its influence now. There can be no extremes, only balance."
In flashes, Rey recalled every moment since she last seen Finn. Poe staring at her powdered face, Leia smiling on the dais, General Hux choking as she tested the limits of her hate, everyone falling like stray embers of a fire, Moya's body, Kylo Ren's kiss followed by a violation of her mind and body, all of which culminated in her mastery of the Force. She understood its nature. She could now look back and see the flow of her life, and how much the Force had tampered with it.
"A lot happened Finn… I… I'm not sure how to explain it." She put a hand to her forehead. She felt so strange. Dizzy.
"Rey?" Finn said softly, his eyes looking at her as if she would snap at any moment.
"Where is Kylo Ren?" She whispered, almost to herself.
Finn's mouth twitched. "He's not here. He's far away. You're safe here now. With any luck Commander Bridger will be able to assassinate that nerf-herder for all the things he did to you."
With a sharp inhale Rey whipped her head towards her friend. "No! Weren't you listening to me? We need him. He's the only hope we have of shutting down the First Order. We need to end this cycle of violence before it starts again."
Finn went to say something. But merely dropped his mouth open. It took him awhile to recalculate his response. "That man is evil. What he did to you was evil. Rey, do you understand that?"
"Finn, it does not matter. The Force in me is the same Force that is in him." With a fervor she didn't know she had, Rey swung around and sat cross-legged on the bed, ready to do everything in her power to explain this to Finn - even if she had to explain it a thousand times, she needed him on her side.
"Ben and I… we're opposites, but the Force doesn't work in extremes. The more you go in one direction the stronger the other side gets. The Force seeks balance. It moved through me…. through Leia… through Luke to counter his power. It only pushed Kylo Ren further to the dark! But Luke is gone. Leia is gone. It was just me… and he..."
Rey paused, unable to get the words out once they crossed her mind. "It will sound worse than it was… " That was a lie and it hurt to say it. Never had she experienced such brutality and pain, but she couldn't let Finn worry. She needed him to understand.
"He broke me. I fell to the dark side... briefly. I had to Finn. I couldn't understand otherwise, but then the Force just… fixed itself. I felt it. I was between dark and light…. Hate and love… and he was there too."
Finn's eyes were wide. He needed to stand and move around the room to not grab Rey by the shoulders and shake her until she stopped speaking nonsense. When he finally turned to look at Rey, his face was serious. "Rey. I think you need to consider that you may be experiencing some stuff that might be too much for a mind to handle rationally."
"Are you calling me crazy?" Rey exclaimed, her face rigidly neutral.
"No no no! Not crazy! Just… stressed out." Finn said hesitantly.
"Finn, I've never been more certain about any-"
Rey stopped mid sentence. Her mental haze cleared just enough so that she could sense a presence outside of the room. As her focus tightened, she realized that there were multiple people. "Finn. Where am I?"
"Coruscant." Finn answered, wondering why Rey suddenly changed topics. "Commander Bridger sent you here in secret. Once Kylo Ren broke the news that you were the one that killed the people at the Ryloth summit, he was worried about your safety." His eyes went to the door, confirming what Rey already knew.
"I want to leave" Rey suddenly got to her feet, stumbling into Finn who steadied her.
"Whoa, Rey. You need to rest a little longer. You've been through too much...!"
"I'm not allowed to leave… am I?" She rushed to the exit, her legs feeling soft and unused. She needed to see - to know what was really happening here. There was the weight of the metal cuff on her right ankle that disturbed her just as much as the people outside her door. Just before she reached it, the door opened, revealing an older man. He was flanked by two men dressed in armor.
"I apologize for the abrupt interruption, but I can see that it didn't come as a surprise."
Rey narrowed her eyes at the aged stranger before her. She had never seen him before and she didn't know what to make of his carefully composed features. "I'm getting good at recognizing when I'm being held captive."
"This is the best cell in the galaxy, and from your profile, it is a taste of luxury one of your kind rarely experiences. I suggest that you savor it for the moment." He said with a hint of kindness that made Rey wary. The man took several steps into the room, looking at Finn then inclining his head to the door. Finn complied with an apologetic glance towards Rey. The girl's jaw loosened in bewilderment as the door closed behind her friend, and she was alone with this stranger.
"Who are you?" Rey asked, wondering who would order Finn around with no fuss.
"Ezra Bridger. Not that you would have heard of me. Currently I am commanding an army that is disintegrating because of you. With no cohesive force to counter The First Order, they have their foot in the door for domination of the galaxy." He stared at her with interest and Rey could feel the Force stir between them. It made her take several steps back. He was trying to use the force to… scan her?
"You're a Jedi…?" She asked, deflecting his manipulations easily, but wondering how powerful he really was. Rey tried to reach out and sense the extent of his mastery, but got nothing.
Ezra shook his head. "No, but I was trained as one. I learned at a young age that some were just not meant to wield so much power." His lips twitched and he regarded Rey with curiosity. "I think it is a lesson everyone learns, eventually."
There was an unspoken question between them. Rey didn't know if she sensed it socially, or with her constantly growing powers.
"I have mastered control of my abilities, or at least I know enough that I could, if... tested again." She lowered her eyes, remembering Leia dying in her arms. "There are things I don't know if I can do… but what I did on Ryloth will not happen again." She looked Ezra in the eye. "I have a role to fill in the coming future. I can stop this war… but I need help."
"Aah, the arrogance of a Jedi. At least you have the sense to ask for help." Ezra smiled, but it did not meet his eyes. "What is your plan?"
"I don't know if I can trust you." Rey said suspiciously.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know you." Rey said as if it were obvious. This conversation made her uncomfortable, and she was a prisoner here.
"Wisdom I suppose. But I will need that information if I am to help you. Who do you trust?" He set his hands behind his back, as if patiently waiting for her answer.
Rey never met a man like Ezra before. He was difficult to read and unpredictable. "I trust Poe Dameron… his droid BB-8, Chewbacca and Finn."
"What about Kylo Ren?"
At this question Rey blanched. Where did that come from? Was he eavesdropping on her talk with Finn? If Finn didn't believe her about Ben Solo, there was no way this stranger would. What could she say?
"Startled?" Ezra asked, amused. A new smile twisted on his face now that Rey's awareness of him had heightened. "I was startled too. On Mon Cala I expected a tyrant Sith Lord with plans to burn worlds and build evil anew. By all accounts that his how he presented himself; but, in the middle of a heated debate, Kylo Ren looked at me and sent me a telepathic message." He took a step towards Rey, but when she matched the movement, he stopped. Ezra didn't intend to intimidate her, only examine her responses.
"He said that you were sent to me for safe-keeping. That he intended to face the consequences of his actions by your side. That the both of you would no longer consent to being weapons in this war."
Rey was unsure if those were really Kylo Ren's words, or Ezra's in an attempt to control her. "Do you believe him?"
"Do you?"
"If those were his words, then yes. We don't want to fight anymore. Our battle is a different one, and it's over now. He succeeded in his mission. There are no more Jedi, but there are no more Sith either. There is just the two of us."
"I want to believe that." Ezra said darkly. "The force is a strange thing. Even now it is guiding me to hear those words as truth, but it's too convenient." Ezra's speech came quicker now, and his expressions less guarded.
"It is true." Rey said firmly. "And it is not convenience…. It is destiny."
Ezra stared at Rey a long time.
"Strange." He said before breaking eye contact and meandering to the door. "For now I will consider you an ally. However, there are many that will not see you that way." He paused and looked over his shoulder. "The chancellor has plans for you that may meddle with your 'destiny'. I will do what I can to secure your freedom… but I doubt you will be able to leave Coruscant for a long time."
"No cell will hold me for long Ezra Bridger." She said his name with the venom she had normally reserved for Kylo Ren.
"Such anger at me? I'm trying to help you girl." He sighed, betraying a hint of weariness. "Dameron said that you were stubborn. It's going to make your future very difficult." Ezra left then, the door shutting swiftly before Rey could follow. The girl cursed and sat down on the chair that Finn had occupied.
What would happen to her now?
A/N: I had a whole Mon Cala chapter planned out... but it was so boring that I just summarized it here. I'm not sure how much political stuff people wanna hear. I know you're all here for the Reylo! Well there should be a hint of something next chapter and the following chapter should be really good to get those horomone's pumping :3 I'm aiming to wrap this story in chapter 13 or 14.