When they emerge from the tomb, Dxun is in the midst of an intense storm. Rain is coming down in sheets, whipped sideways by blasts of wind. Lightning is criss-crossing the sky above the clearing of their camp, lighting up the jungle in flashes.

Ren surprises her, by dismissing Aleck and asking her to accompany him back to the shuttle. Jeyna doesn't know why he needs her company, but she pulls her hood up, holding it against the wind. They hurry across camp to get to the landing site, but her face is already soaked by the time they get there. Luckily the rain gear helped keep the rest of her dry.

She trails him into the communications room of the ship, watching as he sets his datapad to transmit the newest part of the star map.

When he's done, he turns to her. "It will take them some time to extract the holocrons for shipping. With the storm, I doubt we could take off anyway. We might end up spending another night on Dxun."

Jeyna shrugs, careful to keep her distance from him in the small space. "Good. I hate being on that ship."

Ren's mask tilts slowly off center as he surveys her. "There is something different about you. I felt it back in the cave, also."

"The ghost of a dead Sith Lord just played mind games with me," she replies defensively. "I'm feeling a little shaken."

"That's not it."

She stares at the mask, confused. He reaches his hands up, to either side of the helmet, pulling it from his head. Jeyna wishes he wouldn't, it's so much easier to handle herself when she can't see his face or hear his voice. The dark hair spills out, and his eyes are on hers. They're suspicious as he closes the distance between them to search her gaze. Her heart beats faster at his closeness, her palms damp with nerves.

She feels his presence in her mind, light and testing. It's only there for a moment before he is gone again. His lips press together, face holding back a wave of anger.

"I can feel the force in you," he says, fuming. "He's woken you to it."

Jeyna's mouth falls open in shock. "What? Freedon Nadd?"

Ren's jaw clenches, she sees the black gloves curl into fists. She does not understand his fury. "Wait…was he telling the truth? Did you lie about my blood test?" she asks.

His anger falters. "Did he tell you that?"

"What were my results?" she presses.

Ren's face remains stubbornly blank, though his eyes look to be torn. "Elevated, but not to a significant level… Inconclusive."

"Hux said they were average," she argues.

"Hux saw a fake report."

She stares at him, but his face is unreadable. "Why did you fake the report?"

He turns his back on her, walking away as if to check the progress on the data transfer, his attention on the computer. "If the Supreme Leader feels the force in you… I don't know what he will do."

Her heart feels as if it has dropped into her stomach. "But I'm not like you. I'm nothing like you. I can't do the things that you do," she insists, trying to be reasonable.

He turns to give her a glare. "I've been trained."

"No amount of training would make me as powerful as you," she bites back stubbornly. Jeyna has seen too much of his skill, and she knows power like that will never reside within her. She suspects even the taste of power she'd felt in the tomb, with the knife in her hand, had come from Freedon Nadd. Not her.

Ren sighs, nodding once. "That is true. It is weak, what I feel. It's possible you'd never be able to use it for anything of substance, even with training."

Jeyna swallows, wishing he would say something more to reassure her. He doesn't, staying silent. She can feel the turbulence of his mood in the air, and it almost makes her stop before the question leaves her. But she speculates over what else the ghost said. If the part about her blood had been truth, perhaps other parts had been as well.

"Did you leave me in the interrogation room for a week? Or was that Hux?"

"I was told they had failed to recover anyone from Dantooine. I only discovered you when I found a medical droid being dispatched to interrogation, while no prisoners were on record," Ren answers.

She leans against the doorframe, tearing her eyes away from him. How long would Hux have tortured her for? How many other prisoners has he done this to, dragging out their pain just to spite Ren?

"What else did Freedon Nadd tell you?" He approaches her slowly, searching her face as he comes to a stop in front of her once more.

"Nothing I didn't already know," she answers quickly, leaving her eyes somewhere on the floor of the ship. He lingers, watching her. She doesn't want to talk about what else happened in the tomb, so she skates over it in her mind and tries to focus elsewhere.

He's too close, it's causing tension to build in her body. She doesn't want to look at him, doesn't want to acknowledge the magnetic pull she feels when he is this near.

He steps even closer and she flinches, her pulse racing as she remembers his mouth against hers. Just being alone with him is enough to send her mind back into that delirious place, craving more. She has to get away from him. She wants to go, back to her little room, or even back to her quarters on the Finalizer. She thinks of both, wanting to escape her own thoughts.

"What are you doing?" he asks quietly.

Jeyna keeps her eyes down as she moves one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. She pictures the storm outside, the rumbling thunder and soaking rain. She'd have better luck feeling in control standing in the midst of that.

"Are you trying to hide your thoughts from me?" Ren tilts her face up sharply, his hand holding her there.

His honey eyes lock onto hers, and she recalls how wild and black they'd been in the dark, before he'd let her taste him. She can't stop the rush of pleasure she feels at the memory, the desire surging forward from where she'd pathetically tried to wall it up.

"That's better," he says softly, his hold of her cheek turning gentle.

She struggles to drag in a breath, his chaotic energy is surrounding her. "Please." She breathes the word before she realizes it's left her lips.

"Please what?" Ren leans closer, freezing her in place.

Jeyna can't answer him, she is torn between wanting to flee and wanting more. She can't think straight. Why had she been trying to fight this? Her brain manages to string together her thoughts, and she hesitantly answers him. "You told me to be good. I was trying."

His gaze turns predatory, and simultaneously calculating. "Is that what you want? You want to be good for me?" His hand slips down, covering her throat. Her body responds in the same, twisted way as the last time, arousal curling.

She struggles to reply, confused by his conflicting words and actions, her brain fogged with lust and intimidation. "I…I'm not…" She gives up, giving him a desperate look. "Kylo…"

He moves back a bit, dropping his hold of her, even as his eyes narrow. "Don't try to hide your thoughts from me again."

She nods at his order, and when he steps back further, she hurries from the ship.

Night on Dxun

Jeyna's deep in sleep when the hand clamps over her mouth, jerking her into startled awareness. She flails, but a second hand catches her arm before it can strike whoever's assailing her.

Her sleep-blurred eyes clear, and she sees Aleck's face, his expression tense.

"We need to leave, now," he whispers urgently, his voice barely audible. "Something's come out of the tomb, there's no time. Be quiet and stay close with me. If you lose me, get to the ship."

Her eyes widen in terror at the implication, wondering what he is referring to. Some sort of creature? It must be very dangerous for him to be acting this way. Before she can think further, he removes his hand from her face to pull her from her bed, thrusting the blaster pistol into her hand. He motions for her to follow. She moves on autopilot, fear and shock setting in.

They creep into the hallway, edging near the door of the small dormitory. There is no sign of Ren. Aleck pushes the door open slowly, his blaster trained on the exterior. Somewhere in the camp, Jeyna hears a shot go off. It's quickly followed by a man screaming.

Her guard is undeterred, stepping out into the dark to slink along the building. His head is moving silently back and forth, scanning the area as he leads her towards the landing area. She tries to step as quietly as possible, crouching as he does to minimize their appearance.

They turn a corner, and Jeyna is confronted by the sight of one of the troopers. The telltale white armor is torn off, his chest shredded open. She feels bile rise, hot and sour, up her throat at the sight of his broken ribs snapped off. The cavity of his sternum is dark with blood, but it looks like something has eaten parts of him. Her mind reels as she understands the situation she's woken up to.

She feels Aleck's hand on her arm, and realizes she's stopped for too long. She tears her eyes from the sight of the dead man, and gives him a nod to continue. She needs to stay present if she's going to survive whatever is loose in the base. She tries to push away the fear, to be brave. It's failing.

He stops them at the edge, peering out to clear the space between them and the supply building. His hand raises, giving her a small wave and Jeyna joins him as they quickly sprint across the gap. They slow again when they have a wall to their back, and she attempts to strengthen her grip on the pistol. Her hands are shaking badly.

They're almost to the end of the supply building when blaster fire erupts somewhere nearby. Jeyna can hear a second, alien noise. But she can't tell what it is or where it is coming from. Aleck's head whips around, before he shoves her, away from the wall and behind a stack of crates. He drags her further into the shelter the piles of supplies provide.

The noise sounds louder, like a rough, reverberating snarling. It's deep, Jeyna feels like it's shaking her chest. Whatever it is must be close.

There are more shots from blasters as Aleck presses her tighter into the hiding place, his weapon held ready. There is a pair of screams, and then, she hears it.

Relief floods her body at the sound, the unmistakable crackling of Ren's lightsaber. The snarling noise grows into a deep roar, the sound loud enough to hurt her eardrums, before it is cut off.

Has he killed it? Jeyna's eyes are darting about in the dark, searching, waiting to hear or see something. She startles when Ren appears without warning, the red glow of his saber giving enough light to make out his completely black-cloaked shape.

"Get her to the ship. The way is cleared," he orders.

Aleck is already jerking her upright before Ren finishes speaking, and he pulls her from their hiding place as they resume the path forward. Jeyna's feet are dragging despite herself, as she looks back in concern for Ren. Why isn't he following them? Didn't he kill whatever it was?

Aleck doesn't humor her slow pace, pulling her along more firmly until she complies, running with him for the ship. They clear the last few tents quickly, and are almost there when he drops her arm.

"Run, Jeyna!"

She obeys,picking her pace up to as fast as she can push herself. She hears as he begins firing, understanding there must be more of whatever the threat is. She's almost to the ship when she hears the deep, garbled snarling, of whatever nightmare has come pouring from the tomb. Jeyna falters, her mind on Ren, knowing somehow that he is in danger. Looking back, she see that Aleck is firing at three hideous beasts. And they are surrounding Ren.

His lightsaber is a blur, whipping around him in a hazy red swirl as he holds them off. She's never seen anything like them before. They are as tall as a man, but roped in coarse muscle and standing on all four legs. Their skin is covered in reptilian scales, the light low enough to make them appear black, and her eyes catch sight of something protruding from the lower jaw of each one. It's like a long, wicked spike that stabs downward.

As they lunge towards Ren, they seem to be attempting to impale him with it. He manages to catch one finally with the saber, it stumbles back from the blow across its chest. Aleck picks it off with a shot to the head.

Jeyna watches as, with the odds improved, Ren efficiently takes out the last two.

Aleck runs to catch up to her, hauling her backwards to the ship. He drags her up the ramp, opening the hatch. She's staring, dazed, as she sees the swarm appear. At least a dozen more monsters are moving, deeper in the camp, crawling over the ground as if feeling their way. They're coming straight for them.

Blaster fire erupts somewhere distant, on the far side of the base. Ren ignores it as he climbs the ramp. "What are you staring at, get on the ship!" he snarls, snatching her as he approaches to manhandle her into the hatch. He slams his hand on the controls, the door shutting against the sight of the beasts, now sprinting towards the receding ramp.

Ren shoves her at Aleck, striding towards the cockpit. She stutters after him. "There was shooting-what if there are men left, someone might be alive-"

"They won't be alive long," he snaps, the mask making the cruelty in his voice more pronounced as he disappears from view.

Aleck pulls her back from the slamming noise of something impacting the hatch door. The ship's engines jump to life, growing louder.

The sound of the shuttle priming for takeoff is combated by the banging against the door, as the monstrous creatures throw themselves into the metal. The ship lurches suddenly, lifting in a hurry. Aleck steadies her so she doesn't go toppling onto the ground, moving her to a seat.

Jeyna sits, holding on as they accelerate. Where had those things come from? They hadn't seen anything like them in the tomb, but there must have been dozens of them lurking in there. Why hadn't they attacked before? Why now?

"The holocrons," she says suddenly, to no one in particular. She swears she can feel the buzzing they produce, somewhere on the ship.

Jeyna looks around, seeing Aleck has sat across from her. He's watching her, a concerned expression on his marred face. "Did we get the Sith holocrons out?"

"They were just finishing up, loading them into the cargo hold," he says. "You look pale. You might need to lay down."

She feels like laughing hysterically at his suggestion. They have abandoned camp, leaving possible survivors to be hunted down by the swarm of whatever type of animal that was. An entire squad of troopers, and a team of technicians and workers have just been slaughtered, and by the looks of it, eaten by hideous monsters. Surely laying down wouldn't help that?

The ship's flight evens out as they exit the atmosphere, reaching a steady cruising speed. She looks down at herself. She hadn't even put boots on, her socks are soaked with mud. Luckily she'd fallen asleep in her pants, but her torso is clothed only in her undershirt. She stumbles up from the chair, rising clumsily.

Aleck moves as if to stand with her, but she waves him off. "I'm going to the refresher."

Jeyna's relieved he doesn't follow her as she makes her way to the small port side dormitory. She tugs open supply lockers, searching. She finds only men's clothing, settling for the too-large shirt. The boots are a size too big, but they and the clean socks will do.

Jeyna carries the items into the refresher, stripping and turning the lukewarm water on. At first, she attempts to scrub diligently, intent on being clean. But she ends up washing quickly, racing to turn the water off before her emotions catch up to her. She leans against the wall of the shower, sliding down to sit. The tears leak out of her eyes, and she tries to calm herself.

This is more than she's ever had to contend with before. She doesn't know how to handle such stress, the repeated brushes with danger or death. Her nerves are frayed as she focuses on slowing her breathing, fighting hysterics. She tries to block out the image of the dead stormtrooper's remains, to not imagine the fate of all the others.

She forces herself to her feet, drying off roughly and jerking clothes onto her body. But she doesn't make it far, just into the dormitory, before the sobs come back. She feels pathetic as she sits again, the wet towel crumpled on the floor besides her. She can't stop the crying, so she muffles it with a fist over her mouth, and lets it out.