Chapter: Eighteen
Taken
Fifteen minutes earlier…
Rey sank against the cold brick wall as the local law traipsed past her. She could have dealt with them, but she didn't want to be that person. So, she hid in the shadows with Jannah. The frozen air penetrated her long jacket and she shivered involuntarily. It reminded of her of that night on Kijimmi, before her entire life had changed. That single night had hurdled her down a road toward her past and it had determined her future.
A pang of regret knifed through her, as it always did, at the fate of that doomed planet. It had been her journey that had ended the lives of so many beings on that distant world. True, she hadn't been the one to choose that planet, it had been Poe, but the First Order had followed her. Ren had followed her. She shivered, circling him as he threw his knowledge of her parents and her heritage at her like daggers had been awful. She'd tried to deny what she was feeling, what she knew. But Ren had been insistent that her past be brought into the cold light of day. No hiding in the shadows and pretending that she didn't feel something when he spoke of her parents. He had forced her to face things she'd always known.
It was difficult for her to reconcile the man that she had fallen in love with, with her stark and terrifying memories of Kylo Ren. Ben Solo was so different from the dark apprentice. He was kind and open with her and yet, in her heart she understood that they were still the same person. But when he'd saved her life, he'd cast the remnants of Kylo Ren into the past. She could feel it every time they touched. He wasn't the same man that had ruthlessly dug through her mind or denied their Force connection and it could mean at the feet of his slain master. He loved her. And she loved him.
The loud crack of a cart hitting the stone wall to her right yanked her back to the present. Shaking her head, Rey swallowed and refocused on the mission. Her job was to secure food and medical supplies while Poe and Rose gathered a few parts they still needed to fully restore the Falcon's hyperspace abilities. The old freighter had been damaged during the fire fight and she was afraid if they kept engaging the hyperdrive they were going to fry one of the ion engines. And that would be a really big problem since securing a new one would likely cost far more than they had access to.
Jannah's hand landed gently on her shoulder. "You okay?"
Swallowing her memories, Rey nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking. This place reminds me of one of the worlds the First Order destroyed."
"Because of you?" It wasn't meant to imply fault or to hurt her. Jannah's comment was simply a clarification of what was already going through Rey's head.
Rey inhaled. Her breathing unsteady; she turned to look Jannah in the eyes. "Yes."
The former stormtrooper's dark head tilted to the side in sympathy. Jannah understood in a way that most people couldn't. "There are a lot of worlds that were destroyed by the First Order. I'm sorry this one reminds you of any of them." It was said with genuine condolence, but still hard to hear.
"It's alright. It was bound to happen." Trying to shift the conversation, "Any word from Poe or Finn?" she asked hopefully.
Jannah looked down at her communicator. "Nothing yet." She leaned around the corner. "Anything from the Force?"
"It doesn't really work like tha—" Rey's eyes unfocused momentarily and then flew open in shock. "Ben." She whispered.
"What?" The Jannah's eyes were bright with alarmed concern as she watched Rey's face fall.
"Something's happened." She'd barely finished the statement before she was racing in the direction of his force-presence. Rey didn't check to see if Jannah was following her, she knew she was, even as she careened around a second corner. The cool steel of her lightsaber was already in her hands and she still had no idea what she was running into. But it wasn't just Ben she sensed was in trouble; it was also Finn.
Rey couldn't lose them both. Blowing snow swirled around her in angry torrents and for the first time she missed the dry warmth of the desert nights on Jakku. Even running wasn't keeping her warm anymore. She heard Jannah call Poe on the communicator and then Chewie's roar as he listened to the message too. And his responding "Rey…"
Jannah's breaths came in ragged pants as she relayed his message. "Poe says there's a Mega class star destroyer in orbit above the planet. He thinks it might be hers."
She didn't need to explain who 'she' was. Rey's feet faltered for a second before she forced them to keep hitting the ground with the same rhymical pattern as she closed the last of the distance between her, Ben, and whatever was attacking him. She blinked when she felt Finn's bright spark and the undercurrent of worry and fear. But the fear wasn't for himself, it was for Han Solo's son. That nearly stopped her in her tracks. If Finn was here and worried, then someone else had also been here and had done something to Ben.
Anger reached in and allowed her to access more speed than she'd ever thought possible. Her body responded in ways she hadn't felt since training on Ajan Kloss with Leia. She managed to tap into her latent Force energies and use them to power her forward. Rey barely recognized Jannah's slowly receding call for her to slow down. She couldn't do that. Her friends; no, her future was in trouble.
A whisper of new fear within the Force slipped along the edges of her mind. She had no time to focus on what it meant, if it meant anything at all. It could be her own mind conjuring up her terror of losing Ben. She pushed the slight tendrils of fear to the back of her mind, but she couldn't banish them all together.
She slid around the final corner just as Finn came barreling from the other direction. Only her Jedi reflexes allowed her to avoid a painful crash between their two bodies. Rey grabbed Finn's shoulders and shook him with frustration and worry.
"What happened? Her eyes flashed over his shoulder as she looked for Ben. "Where's Ben?"
Finn's dark eyes dropped, and he shook off her hold. "The Final order—"
The arrival of Jannah stopped him mid-sentence. Giving her a quick nod, he continued. "The patrons in the Cantina attacked us. Ben wouldn't pull his blaster. Wouldn't let me pull mine either. We were doing okay until Black Troopers showed up."
Jannah's eyes widened, "The what?" She'd never heard of such a thing before.
His haunted eyes shifted to her. "I've never seen them before. They looked like some bastardized version of the Knights of Ren. But they had power."
Rey's jaw tightened. "Force power?"
He nodded.
"What happened to Ben?" She asked again. Her lightsaber already in her hand despite knowing there was nothing she could do to change the past. Why were they always chasing the darkside around? Couldn't things go right for a moment? Just one moment where either she, Finn, Poe or Ben weren't being used as bait or some kind of lure to get them all out into the open?
"He told me to hide and find you." Finn's answer was soft. "I didn't want to, but I knew that if we were both taken then you'd have no way of knowing how to find us." He lifted his chin, it quavered slightly as he continued. "He saved me Rey. He kept them from sensing my presence and refused to fight." His voice trailed off. "He saved me…" he whispered to no one in particular.
Her mouth went dry and her hands trembled with the need to strike something, anything. Burying the violent emotions, she took a breath before turning back in the direction of the Falcon. "We have to find him."She was terrified for Ben. But her fear wouldn't help them right now; wouldn't help him. Reaching out, she felt their faint Force connection.
His emotions were still absent which meant he wasn't conscious yet, but he was alive. She took off at a light jog toward the ship, keeping a firm mental grip on their dyad link as she did.
XXXX
Admiral Tyko watched the unconscious man being drug through the stark hallways. Kylo Ren had always made an imposing figure. He'd been 23 when Snoke had lured him from the Light side of the Force and he'd already towered over six feet, but over the years he'd developed into one of the most skilled fighters and pilots the First Order had ever seen. His heavy frame reflected that now. His dark head hung down as his limp figure was cast into the interrogation chamber. He'd been searched for any weapons prior to being brought on board. The only thing he'd carried had been an old blaster, which had been immediately taken away.
But he wasn't carrying a lightsaber. Odd, since that was his weapon of choice and certainly the one that an opponent should be fearful of. In those skills, Kylo had been unparalleled. Tyko watched as the former supreme leader was strapped into the interrogation chair. A medical droid floated through the air and waited as one of the black troopers ripped the sleeve from Ren's shirt exposing the pale soft flesh of his right arm. Deftly, the droid inserted a long thick needle into the vein at his elbow and depressed a sulphurous yellow liquid. Once it had completed that action, the medical droid left the needle inserted and proceeded to hook up several lines running from multiple bags. By the time it was done, Ren had four different colored liquids feeding a continuous stream of something into his body. The small droid turned and floated from the room without ever acknowledging the Admiral's presence.
He was okay with that. The droids involved with interrogations had always creeped him out.
Jaxom, the leader of the Empresses black troopers had also stayed to watch. Whoever he'd been before she'd inducted him into her guard no longer existed. He was an amalgamation of previous Sith lords and the power inside him was palpable.
"I'll watch him Admiral."
It wasn't an offer; it was a dismissal. And while he wanted to argue, Tyko wasn't an idiot. If Jaxom was offering to stay it was because he'd been told to by the Empress. She held exclusive control over the black trooper's actions, and he wouldn't dare defy her. Because it had been her power to grant him a second life, she could also crush his soul into nothing; if she chose to. So pissing her off wasn't on his list of things to do.
The admiral nodded and turned to exit. "We are to set course for the outer rim. The Ring of Kefrene." Jaxom gave out her orders like it was normal for an admiral to listen to a soldier.
A small piece of Tyko rankled at the order and yet he had no question that it had come from her. Without saying a word, he simply nodded and exited the chamber leaving the unconscious prisoner and the leader of her black troopers alone.
XXXX
The disconnected feeling between his head and his body instantly reminded Ben that he wasn't somewhere he wanted to be. Pain lanced through him with surprising ferocity and he had to bite his tongue to keep from giving it a voice. He tried to shift, wonderful, restraints. He realized when his arms and legs wouldn't budge an inch. Recalling the circumstances of his capture, he tried to reach out and feel Rey. Was she okay? Had the others been captured as well? He hoped he was the only one. It hadn't been his plan going in, but if they remained free then she would try and find him.
"I can feel your awareness."
A voice he'd never heard before convinced him it would be in his best interest to open his eyes; the bright lights of an interrogation chamber caused burning tears to leak from the corners. A tight pinching at his elbow alerted him to the presence of the needle. Slowly, he blinked the tears away and managed to force his eyelids to part.
A dark figured was hunched down at his feet. It was an exact replica of how he'd been positioned while waiting for Rey to regain consciousness after he'd taken her from Takodana. If he was about to be receive the same treatment, he'd given her, he was in serious trouble. His mind was wrapped in a shroud of darkness that he couldn't penetrate, and his body ached all the way to his bones. His life wasn't all that much better than it had been when he'd been a part of the First Order; at least not at the moment.
"Who are you?" His throat was dry and even he winced at the sound.
The figure tilted his helmet-covered head but said nothing. Ben struggled against the restraints; he knew better than to think he would be able to work his way out of them. The being at his feet stood suddenly and shifted toward Ben. He leaned further into his chair, knowing he couldn't escape anything that was about to happen to him.
The door behind him whooshed open and Ben knew that they'd been joined by her. The power radiating off her was both terrifying and intoxicating. Had he not already belonged to Rey, mind, body, and soul; he might have been tempted by that power. But there was nothing that the darkside could offer him that would equal what he already had. Rey was his other half, literally.
Lightening seemed to crackle through the air as she strolled around him, tilting her head as she did. Ben couldn't see her eyes; the dark cowl effectively hid her from him. But even in his drugged state he could feel her hatred; her hunger. Unlike with Snoke, she radiated evil and dark power. There was no question that she was dangerous, both to the remainder of the resistance, but to him personally.
She reached out and slid cold fingers along a pre-determined path on his cheek. Her touch left a fiery burning sensation in its wake and he hissed with the pain. She'd traced the scar along his right cheek, and now it felt as raw and open as the day Rey had given it to him. "You were lucky she didn't know her own power." Lifting her fingers, the Empress stepped into his eyeline. "When she gave you this."
Ben was struck by her size. The vessel she'd taken was at least five inches shorter than Rey, but thick enough to speak of a muscled frame hidden beneath the black cloak. Which meant athletic, probably with the ability to efficiently wield a lightsaber. Not that she needed to, her guards were more than capable of protecting her. Couple them with the power she wielded, the chances of her ever lifting a saber weren't good.
He tried to hide away his knowledge of the resistance plans. Burying it beneath almost every other memory he had. She'd still find it, eventually. But it would take her a long time of sifting through his mind to locate that specific piece of information. Reaching up, she pulled the cowl back to reveal a girl about Rey's age. She had dark chocolate brown eyes and sable hair. Her face was rounder than Rey's and her skin was a sickly pale color from the lack of sun. He tried to recall who she was; or at least who she had been. He couldn't place her.
She nodded once and the interrogation droid entered the chamber. His heart sank to somewhere in the vicinity of his boots. He recalled only too well how much pain these droids were programmed to inflict. And with his Force power suppressed by the drugs, he wouldn't be able to separate himself from the torture. But the droid halted about three meters from the chair and hovered menacingly.
"I would prefer not to use that mechanical device on you, Kylo Ren."
He jerked at her use of that name. "That's not my name."
She exhaled then lifted a hand to the droid. "Yes, it is. It is the name of your true self. The self you've only forgotten."
Ben didn't know how long the interrogation droid worked on him, but eventually he could do nothing but scream. And when his vocal cords gave out, he was forced to suffer in relative silence. He slumped against the restraints when the droid finally drifted away from him. The Empress had stepped back and watched the entire event with an almost gleeful expression. His pain brought her the greatest pleasure she'd known since returning from the darkside of the veil.
Only then did she move forward and place the tips of her fingers against his temple. He'd never felt like he was being unmade at a cellular level. He now knew exactly what that felt like. She stripped away his personality piece by piece; locking Ben Solo away inside a mental puzzle box he couldn't find his way out of. The only parts she left were those of Kylo Ren and from that anger and bitter betrayal she built him back up into the weapon she needed him to be.
When he finally slumped in the restraints, his mind completely spent she stepped back smiling at her success. It had taken time, but she'd manager to pry the Light out of him and lock it away. Not only would he serve her, losing him would greatly impact the mental stability of the Scavenger.
Jaxom had watched the entire session with a dispassionate expression. He knew that he hadn't been dismissed for a reason, he simply had to wait for her reveal what that reason was. "Go back to the planet. Release her true identity on every frequency possible. We shall see how many of her friends remain when they know who Rey truly is."
"Yes, Empress." He bowed and quickly exited the chamber.
She turned back and stared at her handy work with a small smile. True he was physically a mess at the moment, but his wounds would heal, even if his mind didn't. She ran her fingers through the blood trails on his cheeks, leaving a clean streak before bringing them to her lips.
Without a backwards glance, she turned toward the door; leaving him alone in the silence.
He swam through the pain back toward awareness. And yet he didn't have a clear grip on who he was. Two different lives floated at the edges of his mind, but only one was within his reach. The other was locked behind a pulsating barrier of some kind. So, he grabbed onto the only thing he could…Kylo Ren.
XXXX
Ben had been missing more than two weeks. They still had no leads about the whereabouts of the star destroyer. And his absence had taken a heavy toll on Rey. She was quiet and distant. Even Finn was having a difficult time getting her to talk to him. She barely ate. And she was constantly pouring over the navigation charts stored in the Falcon's memory banks. Dio and BB-8 were able to be in her presence easier than anyone else. So, the two droids kept an eye on her and reported back to both Finn and Poe. Jannah and Rose had commandeered another vessel and headed to Ajan Klos for reinforcements and to relay what had happened to delay the mission.
Rey was startled awake by a presence she thought dead. Suddenly at the other end of the dyad connection was Kylo's presence. The bright blue of Ben's mind was nowhere to be found. A fear unlike anything she'd experienced since watching her parents flying away on Ochi's ship penetrated her. Sweat rolled down her cheeks, soaking her pillow and causing her to throw off the woolen blanket. Not because of the fear, but because the fear wasn't hers. Another presence as strong in her mind as Ben's, was radiating a nearly overwhelming fear wrapped with concern.
It happened within the breath of a moment. Her hand flew to her flat stomach and she blinked in surprise. The fear inside her mind abated slightly, replaced by a sense of warmth; for her. Rey scooted backwards until she was leaning against the wall of the bunk. How was this possible? Pregnant? She'd only ever been with Ben. And that had happened once, about two months ago. And yet the moment the thought appeared in her mind she knew it to be true. Having never had a family of her own, Rey had never considered that she might someday be a parent herself. Ben had been a surprise. The depth of her feelings for him had been a surprise.
And yet she couldn't bring herself to be anything but pleased by the tiny presence glowing in the corner of her mind. It couldn't communicate, but it did have basic emotions. Fear. Love. Anger. Sadness. Happiness. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. It was more important than ever that they find Ben. He had to know he was going to be a father. Her entire perspective on this battle with the darkside took on new meaning. Her own parents had died to keep her from becoming a pawn, she would not allow her child to suffer the way she had. They would have to destroy this new evil before then.
I won't let your father die either. I promise. An instant feeling of warmth spread through her and Rey knew that it may not understand her specific promise, the child knew enough to understand her meaning.
TBC…
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the newest twist…until next time. Would love to hear from you guys.
