A/N: A big thanks to SirenBanshee. You are one amazing beta!
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Kylo worried his lips, wondering about how to explain what he meant. He felt he was going to attempt explaining colour to a blind person.
"It's like an extra sense that you get," he tried. "You gain more awareness. Did you doubt me when I said I would use the Force to guard against movement in the hallway while you meditated?"
"No, sir!" Burman said, seemingly alarmed at the notion that he would doubt his Supreme Leader.
"It wasn't an accusation, merely a question," Kylo quickly soothed. "But I assume you understand that it can be used to be more aware of people's presence."
Burman gave a short nod.
"You can also use it to track their movements."
The look Burman gave him conveyed that he was trying hard to understand what he was saying, but didn't manage to grasp the concept.
"Why don't I show you?" Kylo asked.
"Sir," Phasma commented from her position near the door.
He glanced at her and she straightened up, understanding that he wouldn't take her protests at that moment. Turning back to Burman, he relaxed his posture.
"Try to hit me. I will not use the Force, only my combat training."
Burman's eyes widened. "Sir?" he questioned.
"Come on," Kylo encouraged. "I won't blame you if you actually land a hit. Just assess the speed and accuracy of my movements."
After another moment's hesitation, the Knight finally swung at him. It was a wide swing and one that wouldn't have done much damage had it landed, but Kylo didn't comment. After a couple of weak attempts, Burman seemed to feel secure in the fact that he wasn't committing a grave infraction and finally turned serious. Kylo dodged and weaved without retaliating.
"Enough," he finally said. Burman immediately stopped. "Now, I will start using the Force," he hesitated, "and only the Force."
Steeling himself with a breath, he closed his eyes. Reaching out with the Force, he could feel Phasma's tension and Burman's confusion.
"Come at me."
"Sir?" Burman questioned again, his voice filled with doubt and disbelief.
"Come at me."
Burman swung and Kylo didn't even flinch.
"Aim to hit, Burman of Ren," he reprimanded.
There was a heartbeat of utter stillness, before the Knight finally moved in for a hit. Kylo stepped out of the way easily. Surprise radiated off Burman and he put even more dedication into his second swing, then his third, and his fourth. None of them landed; all of them were sidestepped rather easily.
"How?" Burman eventually asked.
Kylo opened his eyes again and wondered about how to answer that particular question.
"It's difficult to explain," he eventually said. "The Force is connected to everything. By following the connection, you skip the step between your eyes and your brain processing the image, making you faster and more accurate."
Burman stared at him and Kylo waited.
"I would be able to do what you did?" Burman finally asked.
"With the right training, yes. Everything requires training."
Another silence fell. Suddenly, Burman gave a formal salute.
"I will be accepting your offer," he stated.
Kylo forced back the excitement he felt at Burman's words. His heart soared in jubilation but he answered the salute in a composed manner. "I am honoured by your trust," he said, solemn.
Burman seemed to relax. "So," he said with a smile, "when do we get started?"
Blinking at him, Kylo took a moment to take in the sudden change. Of the five Knights, at this point, Burman was by far the most expressive. Although Shadow's incessant chatter ranked a solid second.
"You already have," he eventually answered. "Meditation truly is the first step. Once I'm satisfied that you've mastered it, we'll attempt the reconnection."
"Oh." Burman seemed a bit put down by the answer. "And how will you know I'm ready?"
"Starting next week, I will reach out to all of you with the Force during meditation. It will help me to determine your state of mind. I will also start giving corrections. Right now, it is a matter of getting used to the idea.
"If you want to progress quickly, you can practice on your own. Don't try to meditate for too long, but try it several times a day. After what happened with Ember, I will not risk a reconnection too soon again."
Burman nodded. "I understand, sir. Permission to leave?"
"Of course." Kylo turned sideways, motioning to Burman he was free to go.
Once he was out of the training hall, Kylo turned to Phasma, grinning broadly.
"He said yes."
"He did indeed, sir. Congratulations."
It only sounded half sincere, but Kylo didn't mind. He knew and understood Phasma's reservations about the situation. Which made him remember the second solution Rey had found for him concerning fighting a Force user.
"Phasma," he said, his tone turning serious, "I'll be needing a few Guards for training."
"Sir?" she asked.
"While talking to Rey, we figured out that the ability to keep track of people with the Force is linked to how they are moving. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes it difficult though. I need some of the Guards to test it."
"To develop a way to deal with Force users?" she asked.
"Yes. One on one will always be an impossible situation, but if they outnumber the Force user, this might give them an edge. If we can figure it out, that is."
Phasma hummed, clearly thinking. "I could get some of them together in about an hour and a half," she said. "A schedule has been made, starting tomorrow, for their training with the Knights. I don't want to overwork them. Besides, the training hall is getting fully booked from morning until evening." She gave him a look. "I'm afraid even you will have to start booking a time slot to train. Especially if you want to keep training with her. Otherwise, you could train with the Knights."
"There's always the small training room downstairs," Kylo noted, absentminded.
"If you are a dwarf," Phasma commented with a snort.
Kylo laughed. "I guess you're right. Maybe the construction workers could build us a temporary sparring field outside. Nothing too fancy; just a walled-off space that's safe for us to use. We could add some targets for Daze and Dot."
"That would free up some space, yes."
He nodded. "Let's go find Derek so he can get the order dispensed."
They walked to Derek's office, where Phasma departed to arrange for some of the Guard to join him again later that afternoon. Derek accepted the orders with his usual lack of approval or disapproval, merely stating that 'he would get it done'. Despite Kylo's prompting, the man was still reluctant to share his own ideas or opinions. Not once had Kylo heard him complain, except perhaps that one time he had been asked to join him in the Throne Room. The realisation made Kylo frown.
"Derek," he said, waiting for the man to look up at him. "Are your quarters in order? Anything you would like to see changed?"
Derek blinked at him, confusion clear on his face. "Yes, sir. All is in order."
"Did the move to this facility inconvenience you in any way?"
"N- No, sir," Derek answered, wringing his hands and becoming uncomfortable. "Is there, uhm, a reason why you are asking?"
"Just making sure you're not overlooked because you're not prone to voicing your opinion on things."
Derek stared at him, seemingly speechless. Deciding to take pity on the guy, Kylo turned to leave.
"I'll be in my quarters for the time being."
"Yes. Yes, sir," Derek muttered as Kylo walked out.
Not having much better to do, Kylo nudged Rey with the idea of telling her about Burman.
"Ben," she answered, happy.
"Rey. Are you alone?"
"No. I'm tinkering with a droid in the hangar. Did something happen?"
"Don't worry," he answered, touched by her care. "I just want to tell you something and I would like to see you while I do."
"Give me a minute," Rey said while curiosity spiked through their bond.
She appeared in front of him just as he walked through the door of his quarters, wiping her hands on a rag. Kylo stared at her for a bit. Seeing her in a maintenance jumper was new to him and he had to admit he liked it. The oil-smear on her cheek looked downright adorable.
"Now tell me," Rey said, focussed on a particular stubborn stain on her pinky. "What?" she questioned when he didn't answer and she looked up.
Kylo worked his lips. "You have a smear on your cheek."
"Oh!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe it off with the rag and ending up turning half her face black.
Laughing, he walked up to her and plucked the rag out of her hands. "Allow me," he said, trying to find a clean spot on the completely soiled fabric and proceeding to wipe her face once he found one.
Rey hummed under his administrations. The sound made his abdomen clench. Ignoring the urge to kiss her until she forgot her own name, Kylo managed to get the worst of oil off Rey's face, but some smears remained.
"I do believe you need a shower," he told her, leaning in to allow himself a small kiss.
She huffed but stood on her tiptoes to answer it.
"What droid are you trying to make?" he asked.
"I'm just having some fun," she answered, dismissive. "Now, what did you want to tell me in the middle of the day? Don't leave me in suspense!"
He grinned down at her. "Burman said 'yes'."
"Ooh!" Rey squealed. "That's amazing!"
Kylo allowed himself to be swept away by her enthusiasm. "Yes, it is," he responded happily. "First, he wanted to know- No, let me show you."
Eager, he all but pulled her into his mind and showed her how Ember had held him back after meditation and the questions Burman had asked, followed by his acceptance of the proposal.
"I'm so happy for you, Ben."
Rey beamed up at him and Kylo couldn't help but wrap her in a hug.
"I just hope the others will decide to accept as well."
"They will," she answered. "I'm sure of it. You'll see."
"You have such faith in them," he teased.
"I have faith in you."
Kylo blinked at her, at a loss for words. Luckily, he was saved by an unknown person as Rey's head suddenly snapped to the left and she yelled 'Coming!' into the void.
"I have to go," she said, looking back at him. "I'm really happy he said 'yes'." She pecked him on the lips. "See you tonight, Ben."
He was still gaping slightly when she disappeared from view. With a shake of his head, he finally managed to get himself together again. She had faith in him? She was sure the Knights would agree because she had faith in him? That made no sense…
A knock on his door snapped him out of his musings.
"Enter," he called.
"The members of the Guard I selected are ready for you, sir," Phasma said as soon as the door slid open.
"Already?" he asked.
Phasma tilted her head at him. "It's been a bit over an hour, sir," she said.
"It seems I was lost in thought," Kylo said in way of explanation, surprised about the amount of time that had gone by.
Had he really been staring into nothing and mulling over Rey's words for that long? Refocussing, he preceded Phasma through the hallways on the now very familiar route towards the training hall. When he walked in, he was greeted by six of his Guard: Bart, Mysta, Xian, Arima, Matt and Natasha.
He answered their greeting and went straight to business.
"The question has been asked of how you, my Guard, can fight Force users," he started. "At the time, I didn't have an answer for you. I still don't have one right now, but I would like to conduct some experiments."
His lips twitched into a small smile as excitement rippled through the six Guards.
"After analysing some of my own battles, I have come to realise that my ability to track people with the Force is partially related to how those people move. However, I have not been able to determine exactly which pattern of movement affects me. This is where you come in."
He looked at the Guards and set up a plan. "We will be sparring," he stated, causing another ripple through the Guards. "At all times, there will be two of you engaging me from the front, where I can see you, and three of you from behind, where I need to track you with the Force. Phasma and whoever is not actually sparring will be noting the movements of the ones behind me.
"I will be keeping my mind on the changes in my readings of the Force and will thus be less concerned with actually fighting you off. If you manage to hit me, don't be concerned. I will be using my lightsaber, as it also has its effect on how I perceive the Force, so be careful. If, at one point, I say 'Halt', you will stop immediately. Is everything understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the Guard answered in unison.
"Then determine among yourselves who will take on which role."
As the group converged to discuss, he glanced at Phasma. She nodded at him once, offering her support. It still felt completely counterintuitive to actively find a fault in his defense so his Guard could exploit it when fighting others. There shouldn't be a weakness at all. He worried his lips and came to a conclusion: Once the fault was found, he would continue to train in order to minimise its damage.
Content with his decision, he watched the Guard members come to a conclusion of their own. They stepped away from each other and Bart stepped forward.
"Sir," he said respectfully, "we propose to switch roles every ten minutes. We believe it will increase the chance of finding the… Of having success."
Kylo raised an eyebrow at him, understanding very well what he had almost said.
"With your permission, of course, sir," Bart was quick to add.
"I can see its merit," Kylo answered. "Very well."
He moved to the middle of the room while Bart turned towards Phasma.
"Commander, if you would be so kind as to keep track of the time?"
She huffed. "I will."
Five of the six Guards converged around Kylo and, once he had ignited his saber, their sparring session began.