Chapter 12
Rey blinked at the thin sunlight streaming through her window, even though that was not the reason she had woken from her fretful sleep. No. It was that piercing sound that had brought her back to reality. She muttered a curse and threw her covers away in annoyance. That awful sound seemed to be coming from outside. Dragging herself to the window, she unlatched it and peeked outside.
The commotion surging through the streets hit her like a whirlwind and had her wide awake in an instance. That deafening sound was only spurring everyone on as humanoids and all sorts of alien life forms filled the streets, carrying backpacks overstuffed with their possessions and clutching family members and friends tightly close to them.
A bang on the door made her practically leap in fright as Finn's muffled voice demanded she opened the door.
It's the attack.
It was beginning.
She hurried for the door grabbing her boots and hopping around in an effort to put them on at the same time.
"Haven't you heard the sirens?" a very alarmed Finn stumbled inside followed by Rose. They were both clothed, bags ready on their shoulders and faces befuddled at her pajama-clad sight.
Of course. Sirens.
"Give me one second and I'm ready."
"We might not have a second, judging by the number of Star Destroyers aligning outside the planet's shields, Rey!" Finn exclaimed. "I can't believe you overslept today of all days. Get moving, Nyxx will be waiting for us!"
One good thing Jakku had taught her was to always be ready to flee. Gathering herself in seconds was down to a reflex after years of practice and they were out the door in less than a minute.
The crowd nearly trampled them over, as they joined the current of screaming people heading for the underground shelters. It didn't take long for them to be shoved apart by the panicked mass and soon enough Rey found herself completely separated from her friends.
"We all know what we have to do Rey," she could hear Rose yell a few heads behind her. It was practically impossible to make eye contact with her friend, as she was squeezed and pushed around by the terrified crowd. "We've gone over the plan a hundred times. Finn and I will go and log in somewhere safe. Find Nyxx! Stop the slicer!" Rose went on, voice breaking from the effort it took to stay afloat in what seemed like a sea of running bodies.
Rey turned her head around wide-eyed just in time to avoid crashing against a pole. She gritted her teeth in determination, angling her body towards the side of the street in order to extricate herself from the suffocating bodies.
Find Nyxx.
I can do this.
Kylo Ren stood gazing at Coruscant from the large viewport of the Finalizer's darkbridge, his heavy black cloak molding his figure to the ink of space before him. The low hum of the computer panels and the hushed voices of the officers were the only sounds, disrupting the silence of the bridge. He watched solemnly as the First Order's fleet kept dropping out of hyperspace by the second, each ship taking its planned position over the planet's atmosphere. Nothing stood between the Order and the capital planet except for its shields. And those wouldn't last long.
Steps approached him, heels clicking on the pristine floor, which Ren immediately recognized as being Hux's. The copper-haired General stood in position next to him, an air of arrogance shrouding his rigid frame.
"Their shields were up when we arrived and incoming reports state that they are already raising their fleet in defense," Hux said, immaculately pronouncing his every word. Ren could feel his cold eyes trained on him, studying his reaction.
He continued his unblinking gaze out the viewport.
"It seems Coruscant had been warned," General Hux continued, waiting for Ren to acknowledge the information.
"It will make no difference."
"What are your orders, Supreme Leader?" Hux asked unable to hide his resent for his superior.
If I don't give the order, then he will.
"Prepare the Dreadnought. Use it to blast the shield gates," Ren clipped in his deep voice.
"Excellent choice, sir." Hux's agreement was dipped in sarcasm, but Kylo Ren no longer cared. He turned his hooded face to regard his General, steel eyes boring into his ice ones. Yes, he knew his time in the First Order was over, but he was a step ahead from his General and his plans.
"Alert my knights and prepare my command shuttle. They will be joining me on my surface mission. You, General, will have the Finalizer," he ordered, his solemn gaze returning to Coruscant.
A moment passed before Hux withdrew his eyes from him and added dryly.
"Right away, sir."
"Where the hell have you been?" Nyxx nearly howled at her the moment he saw Rey parting a group of ground soldiers with effort and running towards him. He jumped off his banged up hovercraft stalking in her direction. "We don't have all day you know!"
"I know, I know…" she excused herself, tugging on her tethered jacket and patting her pockets to make sure nothing was missing. That crowd was vicious. Making her way out of the Lower Levels had turned out to be a marathon only made worse by the streams of people pulling her towards all sorts of directions. She pointed at the towering building behind Nyxx, eclipsing the sun. "Is this the first place we look for them?"
"Yeah, this is what used to be the Republic Communications Tower. It's one of the most probable places they'd access," he squinted along with her. "But there are many more to search after this. It'll be like finding a needle in a haystack," he added with a grumble.
"Do you think anyone will stop us for identification?" she commented, trying to seem non-challant. She was definitely not in the mood for pulling out her blaster and stunning random guards.
Nyxx snorted, setting his own blaster in his back pocket and covering it with his long tranchcoat.
"Probably, but we'll try to ignore'em."
Well, that doesn't sound very promising.
She shuffled her feet in discomfort. There was just too much ground to cover. They'd never make it. And how was she supposed to find Ben in this huge city? All of a sudden the mission in their hands seemed impossible, the bond tethering her to the man a heartbeat away, insufficient. Everything was just overwhelming.
Nyxx pierced her with his green eyes demanding her focus. "We have to remain quiet and quick in our search. Understand? Don't let your thoughts wonder. Aryn is like some fuckin' master of disguise, he might be anywhere."
Rey nodded and looked up at the enormous building casting its shadow over them. The weather was changing, she noticed. Grey clouds rolling in and wind picking up.
As if Coruscant could sense the approaching threat.
And then everything stilled.
The screams quieted, the air whipping her hair fell and an electrifying smell filled her nose. Like a lightning about to strike.
Blinding light filled the sky of Coruscant followed by a thunderous rubble. Electric bolts full of colors she never knew existed, exploded in the atmosphere and only seconds later high pitched engines screamed, raining from the sky.
They sounded very much like the ones Finn and her once heard on Jakku…
Tie fighters!
Rey couldn't move as she and Nyxx remained frozen in their spots watching the numerous ships break through the atmosphere.
And was that a Star Destroyer that appeared on the horizon?
"We're screwed," she thought she heard Nyxx mumble next to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled looking at her with eyes wide. "Come on, we've got to find them." But her eyes were glued to the sky and the incoming presence filling her senses.
He's here.
Kylo Ren clenched his gloved fist as his command shuttle jerked again at yet another hit from one of Coruscant's airfighters mounting a defense against the First Order.
"Sir, shields are still holding, but we must find a landing bay very soon," one of the two pilots commandeering his Ypsilon class shuttle said, frantically maneuvering between the blaster fire raining upon them.
"It doesn't need to be a proper landing bay, just any flat surface will suffice and we'll continue on foot," Ren stated, his distorted mechanical voice coming through the new mask he was donning. He wasn't as fond of it as the one he had crushed a few months back, but it would prove useful in filtering out the smoke and dust of the battleground. "There," he said, helmet shifting under the shadow of his hood as he pointed to a low roof to the right of the shuttle.
"It will provide adequate cover as we exit the ship," Neesha added next to him, leaning her slim frame to look through the viewport.
"Come," Ren signaled for her to follow him to the back of the shuttle where a dozen Stormtroopers awaited, weapons in arm.
He stood first in line behind the shuttle's ramp, his form rigid and slightly hunched in anticipation. Neesha and the rest of the Troopers were aligned behind him waiting for the ship to land.
He turned his head over his shoulder to study his knight, feeling curiosity spark behind her visor. Part of him wished he could convince her and Khol to join him once again in his attempt to extricate himself from the Order. But they were no longer driven by burning ideologies and non-questioning devotion. Somehow along the way, each one of his knights had learned to fend for themselves. Ren faced away from her. Just because he had their support today, did not automatically mean he'd have it tomorrow.
Or later in the day, for that matter.
"Kylo?" Her concern drifted from her modulator.
He clamped down on his thoughts. This was not the proper time.
"Stay close to me," was all he said.
The shuttle rocked and jerked several more times before finally making ground. Mixed feelings of impatience, fear, and apprehension surged his way from the men behind him, as the decompressing of the hydraulic valves bounced off the metal walls. The ramp lowered to the defeaning sound of blasters and explosions.
Kylo Ren lit his crossguard just in time to deflect fire aimed at him and his men. He jumped on the ground before him and crouched in his usual striking position, his cloak swiveling around his heavy boots. He deflected more bolts and directed them at the soldiers across from him, providing enough time for his Stormtroopers to exit the shuttle and fall into formation.
Neesha was at his side instantly, working in tandem with him at cutting a path through the blasters, either with her lit crimson saber or the Force.
It was so easy to let the adrenaline and Darkness of the Force overcome his senses and turn him into the known killing machine everyone feared, but he savagely hung on to his initial purpose as he led the way down the building's stairs and out to the rubbled street.
A Gorilla Walker was already razing a group of soldiers taking cover behind a crumpled wall. And a battalion of Stormtroopers was engaged in ruthless battle with Coruscant's determined ground forces. Probably just one of the many pockets of combat taking place throughout the city. Ren signaled at his own Troopers to follow him as he fell in step in front the war machine, leading its deadly progression down the main street of the Senate District.
"We head towards the Senate Hall," he informed Neesha over the roar of battle, as he rammed his blade through an unfortunate soldier who mastered the courage to attack him. "Our latest sources claim that the Governor is there and taking him into custody is our first priority."
"Do you wish for me to join you?" Came her immediate reply.
Ren hesitated for a moment before nodding his assertion. Someone he could trust would have to be in charge of his troops while he logged into the capital's systems and shut down the cyber virus.
"Yes, I might need your assistance. Valek, Thone, and Khol are to arrest government and military officials elsewhere," he answered back.
A burning shuttle grazed the air above them, causing everyone to snap their heads up in surprise. Its engines whirred and smoke trailed after its fatal course, as it went crashing into the plaza before them. It exploded instantly raining fire and metal all around and striking a chain reaction of blasts from a leaking fuel station nearby.
"Run!" He roared, pointing at the opposite direction of the swelling inferno approaching him and his troops at an alarming velocity.
It's moving too fast.
Kylo Ren stood his ground gritting his teeth and fisting his hands. His thoughts fleeted to Rey, worrying about the dangers that awaited her, but he reigned them in immediately. This would require his outmost concentration. He threw his hand out grasping viciously at the Force and bending it into a massive shield against the incoming flames. He watched as both friends and foes stumbled to take cover behind it, sensing their awe and fear at what seemed like an effortless display of his power.
Kylo Ren paid no attention to them because grief had gripped his chest at the recognition of the shuttle. It belonged to Khol.
Rey halted under a partially collapsed ornate bridge, clutching at her chest. She was trying to slow down breaths that did not belong to her and alleviate sorrow that came from a man across town. She lowered herself to the ground, knees resting on fresh crisp grass and braced herself from the ancient carved stone of the bridge.
Nyxx stopped as well a few strides later, resting an arm on a nearby tree full of spring blooms and turning clever eyes to assess her condition. Behind him, an immense domed building rose, made of stone, with intricate carvings decorating its exterior walls.
Rey slowly lay down, forehead touching the coolness of the grass and reached out for the serenity that surrounded her. There were a lot of things she couldn't comprehend about the Force, but she had come to recognize the Light side and draw strength from it.
Breathe… Just breathe…
She had also come to appreciate her very first lesson about the Force given to her by Luke Skywalker in what felt like a lifetime ago.
Now… reach out…
And she did. Towards the man whose pounding heart made hers ache.
Please be careful.
She tried to stifle her troubling thoughts and push a wave of Light to his aid. His focus was razor sharp in whatever task lay before him, and he only sent back a curt reply asking her to abandon the planet. But he seemed to accept the boost of energy she had supplied him with, begrudgingly.
Rey shook her head with a small smile and went on to show him the beautiful scenery splayed before her eyes. A feeling of warmth and longing returned from his end. Along with a name.
The Old Jedi Temple.
And a clipped order.
Stay there. I will find you.
Rey huffed disentangling herself from the bond.
Nyxx was scanning the periphery with narrowed eyes, looking particularly troubled.
"This whole area to the right of the Temple has no power," he remarked, pointing to scattered signs that should have been blinking.
Rey rose, still feeling rather drained and approached him with steps heavy as lead. Lending Ben energy had left her powerless to stand on her own two feet. She turned her head to study the buildings surrounding the park they were in. Nyxx was right.
"Perhaps some power grit was taken out," she commented.
Nyxx shook his head.
"Or…"
They locked eyes. An understanding passing between them.
And then an unimaginable scene unfolded before them. Aircrafts began falling from the sky. Countless unscathed aircrafts started dropping for no apparent reason and crashing inevitably into the city. All of them painted in Coruscant's colors.
Rey felt her blood turn cold at the realization.
"The virus," she heard Nyxx whisper next to her in horror. "Aryn and Clance have unleashed the virus."
No.
It was happening already.
Too soon.
Kylo Ren stood outside the Senate Hall eyes pinned on the tumbling aircrafts. He had to hurry before Coruscant's defenses were completely obliterated.
He stormed inside the building with Neesha on his side and followed by his selected Stormtroopers. As expected, a respectable number of Coruscant's soldiers supported by the building's guards had already taken position within, weapons drawn and ready for them. Blaster fire welcomed him and his Stormtroopers the moment they stepped foot on the polished marble floor of the massive entry hall. Ren threw his hand out, instantly freezing the bolts midair, while Neesha yanked the weapons away from their sluggish hands.
Obviously, these men hadn't come across a proper battle in ages.
He slowly made his way amongst the suspended fire towards the officer that seemed to be in charge. The knight's broad stygian form loomed ominously over the man, who looked him over in what Ren felt like disdain, before spitting at his bloody boots. Kylo Ren instinctively reached for the officer's throat holding it in a tight squeeze, his crimson crossguard spattering its fury next to him.
"The governor. Where is he?" He asked, barely containing his grip from crushing the man's windpipe.
The officer clawed at Ren's outstretched arm and narrowed his eyes in contempt.
"Go to hell!" He rasped back.
Not the answer he was expecting.
Ok, enough playing nice.
Kylo Ren hurled the man to the closest wall. His body hit it with a loud thump and slid on the marble floor. Two soldiers made a move to intercept Ren but were casually flung aside by Neesha. He clenched his jaw as he approached the man's slumped form with heavy steps. He crouched before him, head slightly tilted to the side and extended his hand prying at his victim's mind.
"Where is the governor?" He repeated, the modulator distorting the anger in his voice to a blood-chilling sound. Aggravation had started rising in his chest at the man's stubbornness. But the officer refused to reply. With a tug of his fingers, he started tearing the information he needed from the officer's memory, as the man screamed in excruciating pain. The soldiers watched, eyes wide with terror, the display of power of the so called Force. Up until then, it had been nothing more but legends and tales.
Kylo Ren stepped back a few agonizing moments later releasing his hold on the man.
"Follow me," he ordered his troops as he made his way deeper inside the building in search of the governor and an access to the capital's databanks.
Hux crossed the elevated platform dividing the computer stations of the Finalizer's bridge, towards the large viewport overlooking the siege of Coruscant. The emptiness of space was now filled to the brim by Star Destroyers and what remained of the capital's fleet and were viciously exchanging fire above the restless planet. He scowled at the sight, turned and paced back to the door of the bridge, his footsteps clipped in his usual impatient stride. Coruscant's defenses had proven to be a lot harder to bend than initially expected. It was a good thing the cyber virus had started taking effect.
He turned yet again, his hands clasped tightly behind his stiff body and resumed his march down the platform. Kylo Ren was currently planet bound along with all his knights. It was the opportunity Valek and he had been waiting for in months. Hux was very much aware that there was no love lost between himself and the rest of the First Order High Officers, but Kylo Ren's recent behavior had everyone grumbling in irritation about their Supreme Leader's inadequacy. Their fear of the Dark leader's temper being the only thing that kept them in check. Valek had told him that he was willing to take out Kylo Ren, but his murder would have only been an excuse for further uprising amongst the chain of command.
Hux scrunched his nose at the planet.
Not to mention that Valek had a good chance of failing. And Ren would trace the attempt back to him.
Damn Force users.
He glared icily at the capital city.
It would have to be done now, veiled by the battle underfoot.
"Contact Valek, the Knight of Ren. I want a secure connection in my office," he commanded a junior officer at the closest workstation and made his way to his private room.
The door hissed shut behind him, silencing that incessant beeping and blinking of the bridge. He allowed himself to plop down on his chair by the desk. He ran his fingers through his perfectly combed strands and rubbed his temples.
Hux had to tread carefully if he were to succeed in eliminating Kylo Ren. And along with him, the rest of the knights as well. Yes. It was time to let Valek face his Master in their insignificant dispute over succession.
Let the hounds bite and tear at each other to the death.
He sneered.
Hux had control of the flagship Finalizer and Phasma had the Dreadnought along with the Stormtroopers' allegiance. His position as the next Supreme Leader couldn't be more secure.
His eyes glinted.
"Sir, the Knight of Ren is on line," his officer's voice through the com link startled him from his reverie.
"Put him through," he replied, swiveling in his seat to stare out the small viewport of his office.
"General," the knight's voice boomed inside the room. Hux didn't miss on the slight sarcasm that always tinged the man's voice. It grated on his skin. Indeed, he would be glad to see him gone.
"The objective of your mission has changed," Hux stated calmly. "You are to proceed according to the plans we have discussed in the past. This is the moment you have been waiting for. Do not fail me."
A pause filled with blasting sounds on the background stretched for a moment of two before the knight answered back, his voice barely containing his satisfaction.
"I won't, General. Send me his coordinates."
"Transmitting them, now," Hux typed his directions on his holopad before shutting down the line. His heart was pounding in his chest.
Finally.
A knock on the door made him jump once more. His hands gripped the arms of his chair with white knuckles. He'd end up with a heart attack by the end of the day.
"Come in," he snapped, trying to get his over excited emotions under control.
The junior officer walked in, wearing a squeamish expression that Hux immediately did not like.
"S…Sir," he stuttered. "Numerous ships have just dropped out of hyperspace and in orbit around Coruscant. We just received a message stating that General Organa sends her regards."
Hux's eyes widened.
The bloody Resistance.
This was not good.
Author's note: Keep in mind that Kylo Ren has been trained to kill and even though he might be having an identity crisis, that does not mean he will turn into a saint. And this is Star Wars. A couple of more twists are on the way so stay with me! Reviews are soooo welcomed. Also feel free to PM me. I love discussing these complex heroes!
