Chapter 10
Kylo Ren was standing in the bridge tower of a Star Destroyer. His usual appearance - black robes and mask didn't disturb the crew. He was standing in front of massive V shaped glass panels; overlooking empty space.
He paced back and forth a few times, as if waiting to see something else than black canvas dotted with stars. Myriad of cold dead stars shone long before this ship passed them; and they would continue to do so.
Static universe didn't terrify him as it should. Few more minutes, and then, the crew noticed change in his demeanor. Usually impatient, he now stood still. Star Destroyer changed its course more than twenty degrees and suddenly, it became visible.
Gigantic sun had just come out from behind nearby planet. Watching sunrise in space – what could be more magnificent? Few things in life awed Kylo Ren. This was one of them. The shields of this massive ship repelled any heat or gamma rays. Ren could swear he felt the sun rays caressing his skin, warming his body. No, of course the ventilation of the Destroyer was the reason the air ever moved.
"They'll be landing in the main hangar shortly." Hux announced.
Ren's slight nod would suffice to make Hux leave his presence. Star Destroyer's hangar opened and swallowed an inconspicuous space barge.
Out stepped the scourge of Malachor, the ancient Seven. The capes cut to ribbons were sweeping the floor. Space dust settled on their robes and masks, distorted into hideous shapes. Blaster burns scorched their helmets, every garment bore the signs of battle and death. Kylo Ren awaited them in the hologram chamber. Compared to them, the Master of Ren looked like a more refined, polished version. War didn't touch Ren as closely as it did his knights. In the end, the battles were led by generals, but won by the soldiers.
The Knights of Ren bowed to him, one by one before they finally sat down around the octagon table.
"Any problems on Ord Mantell?" Ren asked.
"We took the tree and killed all villagers. "
How does one read a face behind the mask? Ren couldn't see possible betrayal in their eyes. He didn't have a chance to divine a threat in their gleam. What he didn't see, he felt through the Force.
"You killed all of them? Really… nothing else, Maelus?" He asked calmly. After he neglected to kill FN-21 87 on Jakku, he wouldn't take any chances. He sensed something amiss in that story. He felt a skipped heartbeat within the knight's armor. "Nevermind, you won't have to answer to me."
Supreme Leader Snoke rose from behind the table in the form of a giant hologram. They all knelt down, all except Ren. Kneeling Seven formed like a dagger on the floor, and their Master, greeted Supreme Leader.
"I sense what you want to know, my loyal warriors," he said ceremoniously."You've served our cause exceptionally well. You have passed many obstacles and purged the Force of its usurpers. Many Jedi children died in your hands. Now," he looked at Kylo Ren," now it's time for one final test before we meet in person."
Ren's hand instinctively slid towards the handle of his lightsaber.
Snoke grinned. "Your premonition guides you well, my apprentice. Two there shall be, no more - one to embody power and one to crave it."
Ren knew what would follow. He was going to have to execute his own knights; men loyal to him since they were but padawans. But something in Snoke's calculated gaze unsettled him. He learned to read that marred face during his training.
"Give me an order, Supreme Leader and I will obey." Ren said.
"Oh, I will give the order, my apprentice. Knights of Ren – fight for your lives. Whoever is the last one standing shall complete my training. Kill your Master, if you can. And you, Kylo Ren – prove you are the chosen one. Prove your worth to me and you will become infinite."
Ren waited.
This couldn't be the final order, there had to be more to it. Would Snoke keep anyone whose lucky hand would have driven a lightsaber through him? Had years of training and loyalty meant nothing to the Supreme Leader? So grand in his wisdom, dangerous in his power – and yet, he was leading his own apprentice to the slaughter.
His breathing got more ragged with each passing second. Ren slowly looked behind his back. The Seven wasn't kneeling anymore. One by one, their lightsabers ignited. It never even occurred to them to fight each other, they all charged right for their Master. The battle set the whole hologram chamber on flames. Sparks slithered through the sealed gate, melting the uniforms of guarding stormtroopers. They ran to call General Hux, terrified of what was happening behind those doors.
Screams roared for a while; savage cries of attack. Rather than dying out, they changed to pleas of mercy. Then, only silence accompanied the crackling of dying sparks. Like embers, they shone for a while and then burnt out forever.
"What is the meaning of this?" Hux asked stormtroopers clutching the blasters close to their chests. They simply pointed at the door. When General Hux dared to enter the chamber, he found Kylo Ren besides Snoke's fading hologram.
On the table lay seven masks charred in smoke, but no bodies.
Before any of them could say a word, a stormtrooper ran into the chamber. "Sir, we found two rebels inside the space barge."
"Bring them to the interrogation chamber and set course to Rakata Prime." Ren said and stormed out of the room, leaving trail of blood in his wake.
# # #
Finn knew that hiding on Ord Mantell unnoticed for three days was too good to be true. "I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, but this has to be the dumbest one." Finn groaned.
"What gives?" Poe wiggled his wrists without success.
"Maybe the fact that we're both strapped to a torture rack on a Star Destroyer without any possibility of escape?" Finn said.
Poe wagged his hand confined in the metal latch. "Keep it cool. As long as we keep the spirits up and our mouth shut, we'll be fine."
"Yes, unless Hux decides to pay us a visit. Or FN – 2344; I owe him some credits for that late game of dejarik. Or Phasma. "Finn's head shot upwards as much as the restraints allowed. "I really don't think she forgot our last meeting."
The incessant beeping of an imperial probe droid gave him headache. The wretched piece of junk didn't cease to screech and buzz.
"If I could only reach my wrist," Poe said, twisting it more aggressively. "My emergency micro-tracker could send a signal to Geonosis."
"You think the Resistance would come for us here?" Finn asked. Poe's silent look gave him the answer.
Finn's head dropped to his chest. "So this is probably it, then." Nobody had walked in yet, but Finn felt the shadow looming over them. He could tell who would be interrogating them. A bucket of ice cold water filled his stomach. Even though he shivered in cold, his forehead and palms were dripping sweat.
"Good think we don't have to fight our way out of this. Any blaster would just slip through my hands," Finn tried to make light of their situation. Poe's wrist was red and bruised, but the clasp didn't budge an inch.
The door opened.
Foul stench of burnt plastic and metal accompanied Kylo Ren. His robes were disgruntled and cut at many places. One of his gloves was off revealed deep gash across his hand. Finn and Poe looked at each other. Whatever battle Ren was in, it followed him here.
"What a surprise to see you two again." His voice was laced with sarcasm, even altered by the mask contraption. Finn noticed his frantic pace. The man was more unhinged than he'd ever seen him before.
"You know what will follow if you don't talk. Whoever talks first won't have to watch the other one die. What was the Resistance doing on Ord Mantell?"
"We were sightseeing." Poe deadpanned with a straight face.
Finn's head turned in a slowest possible pace towards his friend. If this was his tactic to escape, no wonder it took a defected stormtrooper to bust him out last time. They were doomed.
Ren stepped closer and grabbed nape of Poe's neck. Finn heard a slight crack and Dameron's scream sliced the air.
"You are useless to me." He said after a while of intense concentration. Finn gulped as Ren moved towards him. He walked steady and reserved, as if sure to get what he needed from Finn.
"I'm glad I didn't kill you at the Starkiller Base. I can enjoy it more now." His arm shot in the air. Finn immediately felt intense pressure drilling into his cranium. Both temples got crushed under this invisible weight. His eyes watered. How could he make it stop? He would have told this dark creature anything, even the things he didn't know, if it meant release.
"I can see you in the dark. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide. I can feel you in the Force. I know you're out there." Ren said quietly.
Finn sensed those words didn't belong to him. Kylo Ren siphoned through his memories and feelings like an open book. Then, he found Rey.
"No!" Finn yelled, to no avail.
The less he wanted to think about her, the more graphic the images became. He saw Rey on Geonosis; Rey laughing with Chewbacca; Rey spinning her staff while training. He saw her – which meant Ren did too.
The probe droid kept beeping somewhere in the room which began spinning. Finn's veins caught fire and he pushed back. Ren shoved his arm closer and the pressure intensified. He was taking more and more, looking at the girl doing mundane things. A sane thought crept into Finn's tortured psyche – why didn't he look for the coordinates of Resistance base? He could have taken maps, locations, names and dates important to the rebel cause. Why did he waste time watching Rey playing with a red stone?
The stone seemed to be the key. Ren saw her passionate gaze focused on that ruby kyber crystal. Once he saw her twirl it between her fingers, the connection stopped. Finn let out a long sigh. He felt battered and on the verge of collapse.
"Do I look worse than I feel?" He croaked towards Poe. Poe's face said it all. The Star Destroyer jumped out of hyperdrive, which rattled the ship.
"Keep them bound and guarded by a squad of stormtroopers. I need them alive, for the time being. Prepare to land my shuttle on the surface." Ren ordered and left the room without giving his prisoners a second glance. They were unimportant, but a cog in the large machine Ren was trying to build.
"That went well," Poe smiled weakly. "Are you all right?" He asked Finn in a broken voice.
"I'll live. By the way, we're still alive because he's saving us for something worse than this. I'm sure of that." Finn said. "It has something to do with Rey, or Luke Skywalker. I think we're bait," he sighed solemnly.
"Good thing Resistance knows it's a trap." Poe smiled.
"How?" Finn asked.
Poe smirked and nodded towards his wrist. It was bleeding and contorted in a strange position, but a small red diode was beeping vigorously.
Finn chuckled. By the time good news truly sank in, both men were laughing through the occasional moans of pain. At that moment, they were the happiest tortured prisoners in the entire Galaxy - because they still had hope.