When she wakes up after sleeping in, she finds her mind is still very much her own. She can't sense him, his presence blocked off from hers. She wonders, with the burn of rejection in her chest, if this is what he was planning to do. Had he meant to sever their tie so thoroughly? She'd fallen asleep assuming the connection would return when she woke.
Her heart sinks even as she knows it would be a good thing. If he did end it, she could properly hide from him. She would be able to escape the First Order for good, and not have to worry about Snoke wanting her dead.
She struggles to repress the panicked emotions that accompany the thoughts of it being permanent, the link broken forever. But what happened between them so very recently only made her longing to be with him again stronger.
Jeyna focuses on her surroundings to distract herself. As soon as she does, she notices an absence of something else from her senses. Since he had previously made her aware of her ability to detect such things, she'd been hyper observant of the noises of the ship. And there is a distinct lack of vibration from the engines, indicating they've landed somewhere.
She emerges from the dormitory to find only Aleck in the main hold. His face looks somber, and he is not bothering to hide the expression.
"What's wrong?" she asks, concerned.
He searches her face before speaking, slowly. "The situation has changed since yesterday."
"How?"
Aleck's eyes linger on hers for a while, analyzing, before he tells her, "The entire First Order fleet is searching for us. They've populated the sector. It's only a matter of time."
She is taken aback by the news. "What…Why? Doesn't Snoke have better things to do than use his entire fleet for just me?" She knows the Supreme Leader wants her, so Ren can finish his mission and kill her. But it still seems an extreme move for him to make.
"Snoke isn't the one who commands them," Aleck corrects her.
Jeyna stares at him, confused, her stomach dropping in uneasiness. He takes a deep breath before he explains, "Our sources tell us Ren killed Snoke, just hours ago. He has usurped power as the new Supreme Leader."
She stumbles into a seat, her head falling into her hands as she takes in the news. She hadn't been expecting that. And Jeyna realizes it changes everything.
"The connection you have… I need to know if you can use it the way Ren does. It's our only hope, if you can manipulate the bond-" Aleck starts to explain, but Jeyna shakes her head.
"He's broken it. I can't feel him," she admits. "It's been broken for a few hours…"
Aleck's face turns grim, even as he nods. "It would have protected you from feeling it, had he died challenging Snoke."
Her heart races with anxiety at the thought, and she is strangely angry with him. How could he do something like that without warning her? She could have lost him, lost the only real emotional connection she'd ever forged in life, and she hadn't even known.
She hears it as Aleck sighs. "Miss Torre…There is no point in hiding the facts from you any longer. Ren must have figured out our probable locations based on how short our jump was. We needed more fuel to go farther, and there were only a few places we could hide without acquiring it."
Jeyna focuses on his words, trying to clear her thoughts. "So, he's got those locations pinned down? And we're on one of them?"
Aleck nods slowly. "If we try to leave our current hiding spot, there are so many First Order ships in the vicinity…We will be spotted. I was hoping you could use the connection to attempt to plant a red herring in his mind, but with it broken…"
"Are there other ships on this planet, moon, wherever we're set down?" she asks, her mind struggling to formulate a plan.
Aleck's eyes are calculating as he searches hers, and she knows she isn't imagining the touch of suspicion in them. "Yes…"
"Are there droids on any of them capable of piloting this ship? I know some Astromech models can do it with course assist in the nav computer-"
Aleck interrupts her fast speech with a hand held up, and she falters. "Why would we need a droid to pilot this ship?"
"Because…if you could program a droid to take me on this ship to the Finalizer, that would distract Ren long enough. You and Poe, and whoever else is here, could escape on the other ships." It's the best plan she can suggest that might end things peacefully, or as close to peacefully, as possible.
Aleck looks intent on refusing it, his features showing borderline anger. "You aren't surrendering yourself to Ren."
"He won't kill me! Snoke is dead!" Jeyna protests.
"Would you so blindly align your cause with Ren's? Do you want to further the First Order's agenda because you can't see past your emotions?" Aleck challenges, voice tight with restraint.
"I'm not furthering their cause-" she attempts to argue, but he cuts her off.
"You are. Ren is their Supreme Leader now," he reminds her, control giving way as anger slips through. "If you help him, you help the First Order. I don't know what Revan left behind, but in their hands, it could crush the Resistance. Your naïve love for one broken man could be the nail in the coffin of our movement!"
Jeyna doesn't answer immediately, letting his words sink in. Would Ben use whatever they found against the Resistance? Did he believe so strongly in the First Order's cause? Or could he be convinced to walk his own path? She realizes, with a sinking feeling in her chest, that she hadn't ever dared to question his motives.
"What does Leia think?" she asks finally.
Aleck seems to have regained his carefully composed demeanor, the traces of anger vanishing. "Poe is trying to reach her on comms. But likely the General is busy trying to orchestrate a way out of this situation for us."
Jeyna drops her gaze in defeat. "I don't want to get you or Poe killed trying to stop him," she admits quietly.
"We are both willing to give our lives for this cause. That decision was made well before you ever entered the picture," Aleck says. She searches his scarred face, realizing how much he is still a stranger to her, before nodding.
He stands, requesting, "Please inform me if the connection to Ren returns."
She nods again, unsure what else to say, and he leaves her in the hold alone. She watches him disappear into the comms room near the cockpit.
Later
Not much time has passed, and Jeyna feels tightly wound with anxiety as she waits. Kylo, or Ben, still hasn't attempted to rekindle the connection in the force. She mentally stumbles over what to call him. Ben is the name that feels right, even as it brings a blush onto her cheeks to think it. But somehow it is so at odds with the image of him, masked and in all black, as the new Supreme Leader.
Jeyna has to stop herself, several times, from almost reaching out in the force for him on accident. It happens intuitively, as she thinks of him, her consciousness longing to find his presence.
Just as she feels like she might go completely crazy, her thoughts and feelings torn so completely in half regarding him, the door to comms opens. Aleck and Poe emerge, both looking urgent.
"Is the connection still gone?" Aleck demands. When she nods, he presses, "You're certain?"
"Yes," she says, searching her mind in doubt. She feels nothing.
"Then we need to move. They've begun sending teams to do recon sweeps. We can't wait any longer," Aleck informs her.
"You ready to be my copilot?" Poe asks, forcing a disarming grin in her direction.
Jeyna feels her face drain of color at the implication.
Minutes Later
She is strapped into the copilot seat of a tandem X-wing, her fingers numb from how tightly she grips the harness on her chest, when she sees the First Order ships enter the atmosphere above. Transport shuttles and TIE fighter escorts fill the sky.
They're on a forested planet, one that seems mostly uninhabited from what little Jeyna's seen on the hurried sprint from the shuttle to the X-wing. Hidden amongst the terrain is the remains of an old Rebel base, and that is where they'd been hiding out.
Poe fires up the engines, and Jeyna flinches at the noise assaulting her eardrums as the few Resistance ships surrounding them do the same.
"Here comes back up!" Poe shouts, his voice coming through the built-in headset in the helmet he'd plopped onto her head. Her heart starts thudding when she sees what he is talking about.
Resistance ships suddenly appear in the sky above, cruisers and fighters. They immediately begin firing on the First Order. "That's our cue!" Poe lifts off hastily, and Jeyna struggles against the wave of terror rising and clamping down on her chest. They've started an all-out battle in an attempt to conceal her removal from the planet.
The X-wing is fast as Poe pushes it to its limits, and Jeyna tries to not look down at the rapidly receding forest below. But when she looks up, all she can see is the flood of TIE fighters pouring into the region, reinforcements already called to the fight.
She feels sick at the forces the ship puts on her body, as Poe attempts to evade the majority of the fighting. He's a skilled pilot, but the maneuvers are unlike anything Jeyna's used to. She's never been on a ship as small and fast as the X-wing, and she fights nausea as her entire body shakes uselessly in the copilot's seat.
She sees the ship she'd previously been on, the beat-up smuggler's vessel they'd taken to Nar Shaddaa, out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she realizes Aleck must be using it as a decoy. It's attracted intense attention from the First Order, and most ships seem to be following it. Her heart pangs in fear for the man, before Poe veers wildly away from the sight.
Two TIE fighters have noticed them, and are pursuing. Poe weaves through the edges of the battle, attempting to lose them. But other fighters seem to be taking notice, and join the pursuit. Jeyna notices with suspicion that they don't fire upon them.
"I need help getting these things off my tail!" he yells into his headset. Jeyna can't hear if there is a reply, her own device must be shut off to the Resistance communications. Her ears are filled with the sounds of screaming ship engines, distant explosions, and laser cannons firing.
A second X-wing appears on their flank, before falling back. She cranes her head to see it as it shoots down one of the original TIE fighters that pursued them, as well as another one that had joined the chase. Then, she gasps as a shot takes out one of its engines, and it is sent reeling sideways in an unsteady descent.
Poe swears, throwing the ship into a wide arc. Jeyna's clinging on to try to stabilize herself, catching glimpses of three very persistent TIE fighters behind them, when she feels it.
The connection starts out tentative, his presence testing hers. And then it builds.
"He's back! He's in my head!" She shouts to Poe, hoping he will hear her over the sounds of the fighting.
The man lets out a stream of swear words that would have been impressive, had the situation been less disastrous.
Jeyna tries to fight Ben's presence in her mind on instinct, she is so panicked over the battle taking place and the violence surrounding them. She hadn't wanted this, she had wanted a peaceful solution. Aleck should have let her go to him. Lives are being lost because of her, and she is distraught.
She struggles to block her mind, but she has no idea how to do it. Her efforts hurt her head, pain blooming throughout her skull as she tries to force him back.
They've reached the edge of the atmosphere, the planet receding beneath them as a sphere of green and brown. Poe doesn't hesitate, breaking free into space, even as the TIE fighters refuse to fall back. Jeyna can see the looming shape of a huge First Order ship, parked above the planet, waiting. Poe turns their path away from it, heading instead towards the blackness of space.
The X-wing shakes as one of the TIE fighters decides to fire on them, rapidly. The shields soak up the impacts, but they won't last for long with such an onslaught.
Jeyna turns in time to see another bolt of laser fire connect with the rear of their X-wing, glancing off. Then she flinches, wincing her eyes at the burst of light that shocks them when the TIE fighter explodes without warning. She doesn't even know who shot at it, but her heart stammers at the sight of the larger ship that takes its place.
It's made of black metal, and its wings arch wickedly, straight up on either side of the main hold. The remaining two TIE fighters pull off, abandoning their pursuit. Only the new ship follows them, as Poe pushes the X-wing to its maximum speed.
"I need back up! Is anyone available?" the pilot shouts into his headset, swearing again at the response. "This isn't good…This isn't good…" Poe's muttering under his breath, and Jeyna's helmet transmits the noise as staticky whispers.
She doesn't need his presence, surging in her mind, to confirm what she already knows. Ben is piloting the cruel black ship that stalks behind them. They are out of moves.
