Chapter 16: Failed Escape
Kylo thumbed open the door, leading to his private quarters. He felt a rush of pleasure that Briana was back and waiting for him. He could start the memory wipe right away, but once he took her memories away they could start being a father and daughter. Then Kylo could train her in the ways of the Force and bring her mother here. "Briana, I'm here," Kylo called, hoping Briana would come to him. Kylo felt his heart plunge at the quiet that met his ears. He hoped she had fallen asleep.
Kylo went into the chambers he had given his daughter and looked at the bed and then the floor as, from the last time, Briana had said the bed was too soft. He then looked up at the grate and a surge of anger filled his heart. Not Again! What was it with his wife and daughter always trying to run away from him? Kylo knew that if he caught his daughter this time, he would have to punish her, but hopefully she'd see that trying to run away from him accomplished nothing and that her father would always find her.
Briana made her way quietly through her father's ship hoping, as she bit her lips, that her training in Force shielding worked to her advantage. Luke had always said that the skill was helpful in keeping Sith lords from finding out where anyone was through the Force. Briana wondered if Kylo Ren fell under the heading of Sith lord. Rey had said that Kylo did use the dark side of the Force, but he wasn't what most people would call a Sith. Briana then felt a cold blast through the Force. It didn't take much for her to realize that it was Kylo and he was furious.
Briana! An angry shout slammed into her brain. It was Kylo and he had discovered her gone. Briana, come back! Her father's voice said, a little quieter this time. No way! Briana thought. What kind of fool did her father take her for? If that dream she had was anything to go by, her father would shatter her mind worse than before. He would Force-rub all her memories and make her totally dependent on him. Granted, Briana wished she could stay with her father, but she wanted Ben Solo as her father, not Kylo Ren. It was really like her mother said about wanting to take Ben Solo's hand instead of Kylo Ren's.
Briana, please come back! I love you, Kylo said in a pleading voice.
You love the idea of me, Father. You love me as a weapon against my mother, grandmother, and Uncle Luke, but you don't love me for who I am. I am Briana Solo," Briana thought at him fiercely.
Briana, please! I can learn, Kylo thought, causing tears to come to her eyes at the sound of the anguish.
No. I am Briana Solo. My father's name is Ben Solo. Mother said that you said Ben Solo doesn't exist any more. Good-bye, Kylo Ren, Briana thought, blocking her mind with shielding so she wouldn't continue this conversation.
Kylo felt his insides churn as his baby blocked him and said through the Force that he wasn't her father. It had hurt when she had said it when he captured her on Jakku. The pain was just as bad now as then to hear her say it again. Yes, he had told Rey that he had killed Ben Solo, but in his heart he knew that wasn't true. Because if Ben Solo was dead, why would his daughter even matter to Kylo Ren?
"General Hux, my daughter has escaped from my quarters. Stop her, but do not hurt her," Kylo said stiffly.
"Yes, Supreme Leader," Hux said through static on the comm.
Soon he would have his daughter back and this time he would make sure she stayed in quarters with the doors and ventilation shafts locked if need be. He would protect his daughter; even if it meant protecting her from herself.
Briana made her way slowly down the corridors, stretching out with the Force to detect danger. Of course with her father and the Knights of Ren, her connection to the Force was like going through very thick mud. She could feel the cold anger that was her father, and the mindless killing that summed up his disciples, but using the Force to detect danger was nearly impossible. Uncle Luke had once said that the dark side hides everything it doesn't want you to see. Now Briana knew what he meant by that; that Uncle Luke was right. If she made it off this Stardestroyer, she'd tell Luke himself that he was right about the dark side blocking her.
Briana then felt a jolt as a blast hit her right between her shoulders and darkness clouded her vision as she blacked out.
Kylo looked up from his desk as two stormtroopers entered, Briana, unconscious. "Put her down on the couch please and leave," Kylo said as he stood up and the stormtroopers put her down. Kylo knelt beside her and gently brushed her hair back, pressing his hand to the side of her brain that held all her memories. Concentrating hard, he erased the first memory he came to; a memory of her and his mother inside his father's ship.
