Helix didn't have a chance to talk to Loren a second time. He seemed determined to avoid her, sulking after their argument, and she didn't get the chance to apologise.
She was introduced to an Echani male who she was informed would be her pilot, and for her first assignment would join her in the scouting tasks.
Dakto Naseen, she discovered quickly, was as ill-tempered as Keslin had been, but he was friendly enough that they enjoyed long discussions. When he discovered that her knowledge of galactic history was lacking, he took it upon himself to teach her all he knew.
They were sent to a series of planets, two of which Helix recognised - Sedri, where she had lived in her early teenage years, and Canastra IV, where she had learned to swim underwater and control her breathing very carefully. When she related this information to Dakto, his heavy brows pulled together.
"Exactly how many times did you move about as a youngling?" he had asked her.
"Eight,"
He hadn't replied after that, and she had wondered if she'd said something to upset him.
They returned to the station only long enough to deliver the report Helix had compiled, before Major Ematt sent them off to help Colonel Cortene at the Yavin base. Several of his recon scouts had discovered a hidden First Order base, and were pinned down by heavy fire. Helix and Dakto went in with a squadron of X-wings, who provided aerial support while Helix and Dakto helped the other agents to escape.
Dakto's shuttle sustained heavy damage, and it kept them grounded at Yavin for close to two weeks. Helix took the time to learn more about the Resistance's communications arrays, and one of the Commanders allowed her to practice flying in an old A-wing, something Major Ematt had suggested she learn. As an agent, she would eventually need to rely on herself to pilot something, and there had been very little piloting involved in training.
They were then sent to deliver classified information directly to Colonel Makaret at the re-established D'Qar base. Ever eager to please, Dakto volunteered them to collect records that had fallen into the hands of the First Order on a moon, and it was there that Helix first discovered what it was like to be shot. Dakto provided backup, rescuing her, but she was forced to remain at D'Qar for several days as Doctor Navissen healed her injuries.
During her "healing process", Helix admitted to Dakto that she wanted to go home, even just for a day, and he agreed. When an assignment came up that involved collecting a batch of crystals from Ilum and taking them to the Jedi Skywalker, they jumped at the opportunity. An easy enough task, as the crystals had already been harvested, and Dakto had already learned of her dislike of the Force, and offered to deliver them.
Helix fell into her bed, groaning loudly. Her three roommates were nowhere to be seen, and the few minor possessions she had collected from Takodana were still stowed under her bed. Weary from weeks of space travel and reconnaissance and extraction assignments, she fell asleep without bothering to change out of her clothes.
She was woken by sharp knocking on the door, a sound that reverberated through the room and pounded on her eardrums. Helix drew herself up groggily, shedding the flight jacket she still wore. The climates of Yavin and D'Qar had introduced singlets to her small wardrobe, and she was thankful for the cool, recycled air that was pumped into the rooms of the station base.
The door slid open at her touch and Azros and Finn stared at her. It had been at least a month and a half since she had seen either of them, she realized, but they still looked as she had last seen them - Azros' hair had grown slightly, but it was still shaved away on the left, kept short so as not to interfere with the implant, which had been switched for a black metal version. Finn hadn't changed, but he was the first to notice the changes in her.
"You got shot!" he exclaimed, spotting the scar on her shoulder from the blaster wound, "When?"
"A few weeks ago," she replied, stepping back so they could enter, "Second time we had to face down the First Order. What's new here?"
Azros embraced her gently, grinning. "Not a lot of difference," he told her, "Except that I had my first assignment,"
Helix high-fived Azros in celebration, "Good to hear! How's Loren's studies going?"
Finn looked at Azros, who hesitated. "Good, his studies are going well," Azros replied. Helix sensed it immediately, the tension. It was stronger than she remembered it, though.
"What's happened?" she asked warily.
"He's been using his Force abilities," Finn replied, before Azros could get a word in. Helix frowned. "He's been using them on everyone,"
She stared, looking at Azros to see if it was true. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"Mostly just mind reading," he told her.
""Mostly"?" Helix heard her voice rise an octave, "He's been using his persuasion? Do not tell me he's been using his persuasion!"
"He's been using his persuasion," Azros told her reluctantly, "He's also... Started moving things around,"
That was no news to Helix; she had known he was practising it on Takodana. "What kind of things?"
"He can only do it when he's angry, at the moment," Azros told her, "At first it was little things, make something shake or rattle, send something flying across the room. Now, though," Azros sighed, "He breaks things, can throw bigger things around. Sometimes... Sometimes it feels like you can't move around him, and..."
Helix guessed, but it was Finn who said it. "He threw Azros across the room, without even touching him,"
Helix sighed heavily, sitting on the bed between the two. "Who else knows?"
"No one," Azros replied, "Master Luke might have sensed it, but he won't even look at Loren much less chastise him for abusing the Force. Helix," he turned to her, grabbing her hands, "I know it scares you, but please, please, go to him. He'll listen to you, he always has. He's falling into something dark and we can't lose him, not so soon after Keslin. He's our brother, even if he is a pain. For the sake of our brother, please,"
Helix hesitated, then nodded. It had been so long since she'd encountered other Force-adepts that she was almost ready to believe she could aummon the courage to face Loren - even if he was getting stronger.
As a cadet, Loren was still in a shared apartment, but he had the luxury of a private sleeping area. Helix was relieved to find him there, alone.
He had changed as much as her. He now stood taller than before, and had developed a lean, muscular frame, the plumpness gone. He embraced her, but she could tell just by looking at him that something was amiss.
He welcomed her into his small sleeping area, and she almost choked. The air seemed to be thick with something, a dark, cold feeling that not only invaded her sense of smell but also seemed tangible enough that she could taste it.
"I've been... lost, without you," he told her slowly, carefully, "You were always a guiding light for me, always brought me back to my senses when I went too far. Nobody else does that here,"
Helix watched him as he paced. "You've always known there would come a day when I wouldn't be around to remind you," she told him, "Why haven't you tried to control yourself? You don't need my guidance,"
"My powers are getting stronger," he told her, changing the subject slightly, "I can summon things, send them away. Make things rattle and move without touching them. I can even make some things explode,"
"Loren-"
"Helix," he spun around to face her, "I'm strong. I'm powerful. I can learn this on my own if I must, but it would take too long. I need Master Skywalker to notice me, to devote his entire attention to me,"
"Skywalker already has an apprentice," Helix reminded him.
"Well I should be apprentice in her place!"
"Rey is just as powerful, if not more than you," Helix had finally met Rey, in the few days she'd had spare between returning from training and going on her first task. Rey seemed kind, friendly, and they had discovered that their shared naïveté when first being reintroduced to civilisation was something they could confide in each other. For a Force-user, Helix had decided, Rey was alright.
She had, however, resolved to never tell anyone why she had been so shocked to recognise the other girl.
Hekix could see Loren's fists clench, but she hadn't expected the drinking container on the bedside table to fly off so violently that it smashed against the wall. The impact made Helix jump.
"I could be as powerful as Rey!" Loren snapped, "She's only that strong because he favours her! He doesn't see me for who I truly am, a master of mind and soon to become a master of control,"
"You don't seem very controlled to me," Helix told him, rising. She could feel the atmosphere changing, the Dark, cloying, invisible substance shifting, swirling, surrounding him. She had entered with her Wall up, but now it pushed through, seeping through small cracks. She wanted to leave.
"I. Have. Power!" Loren cried, throwing out an arm towards Helix. Her Wall seemed to shatter, crumble as the invisible tendrils wrapped around her, immobilising her so suddenly that she swore her heart froze in terror.
She flew through the air, crashing against the wall, but the tendrils pinned her there, unable to move. She struggled, helpless, and they pulled her forwards.
Loren's hand wrapped around her throat, holding her off the ground, his grip tight enough that it was cutting off her oxygen. Helix struggled to breathe, nails scraping against his exposed forearm. Tears sprang to her eyes, and for the briefest moment his blue eyes seemed to flash yellow.
"You can see it," he hissed at her, "That's why you've always been so scared of me, because you fear power, and you know that with training, I could be stronger than even the Sith ever were! That's why you, who could have, never spoke to Skywalker, never suggested Keslin teach me, why you have always tried to keep me down!"
"Loren...I..." Helix struggled to breathe, his grip tightening around her throat. The edges of her vision were blurring, turning dark, but she forced it away.
Then he was inside her head. Not a gentle query, as it had always been, but a desperate, raw display of power.
"I can have anything I want, and you've always stopped me," he hissed at her. Helix wanted to cry out but she couldn't even breathe, let alone make a sound. He moved through her mind roughly, cutting through her memories and thoughts, dissecting her alive. It was as though he had dug an icy blade into the base of her skull and was twisting it, yet she was still alive, still feeling it. She couldn't breathe as her head seemed to split apart, and darkness was crowding the edge of her vision.
The coldness raged inside her suddenly, and it felt like she was exploding, her entire being ripping apart. She cried out, then her feet hit the ground and air rushed back into her body so quickly she began to choke on it, gasping, coughing, retching. She struggled to sit up, noticing that Loren was sprawled on his back on the other side of the room, as though he'd been knocked aside. His presence was gone from her mind, but the pain lingered, a reminder of what he was now capable of. Helix tugged at the collar of her shirt, pulling it away from her throat as though it were still obstructing her breathing.
"You're weak,"
Helix staggered to her feet and spun to see Loren slowly sitting up, and he gazed at her. "Weak and pathetic. You're not my sister,"
"No, apparently I never was," Helix heard herself say, her voice shaky. The coldness was still in her chest, dark yet lending her strength again. Before he could respond, she fled, leaving him alone.
The last few minutes came flooding back to Loren in a rush, and he realised what he had just done. He staggered to his feet, stumbling towards the door, into the passageway.
"Helix!" he cried, "Helix, come back! I'm sorry!"
