After Skywalker was taken care of at last, Kylo Ren makes his way into the old Rebellion base on Crait. He marches through the singed doorway with General Hux and a group of Stormtroopers flanking him. Kylo makes his way inside and stops at the command center, signaling with a wave of his hand to keep the others outside. General Hux stops besides the two Stormtroopers protecting the entrance, a menacing look on his face as he glares at Kylo's back.
Kylo strides into the room and kneels down when he notices a golden shine on the floor. Reaching out with his gloved hand, his fingers clasp around a pair of Corellian dice. He knows these dice all too well. They were his father's. Kylo turns them about in his hand, dangling them and listening to the clinking sound each time the two die connect together.
A sudden pull immediately gains his attention and he looks up to see Rey. The girl who had grown so much since her days on the junkyard planet Jakku. The girl who had come to stand by him against Supreme Leader Snoke. The girl he offered the entire galaxy to only to be denied. He should have felt furious. But looking at her in all her beauty and confidence, Kylo can only stare silently up at her.
Rey's eyes connect with his and they stare at one another. Her lips part as she peers down at him from the ramp of the Millennium Falcon. She was so certain he would turn for her and come back to the Resistance. She thought this was how they would win the war and bring peace to the galaxy. She wanted so desperately to take his hand back in the throne room. But seeing he hadn't changed his mind about the First Order, she couldn't take his hand. She wouldn't take it. Rey would have taken Ben Solo's hand in a heartbeat.
Looking down at him kneeling before her, his eyes are pleading like a baby Bantha. Her heart goes out to him, but she has to stay firm. She cannot go with him and join the First Order. As much as it breaks her heart, Rey closes the door to the Falcon with tears stinging her eyes. She stares into his eyes until their connection ends. The slam of the door jolts Kylo and he swallows, trying to push back his own tears. His eyes do not leave the spot where she was standing just moments ago. When he sees she is not returning back and cannot feel her, his eyes flick down to the dice in his grasp. They swing lazily before disappearing all together. Kylo clenches his fist and closes his eyes in defeat. As he fights the tears threatening to spill over, he hears a throat clearing just outside the door.
"Em, Supreme Leader?" General Hux asks, trying to keep his tone as measured as possible.
Kylo grunts and stands up, still facing the direction Rey was in the slight hope she would return.
"What is it?" he grunts.
"The troops have completed a full sweep of the base and there is no one here. What are your orders?" Hux inquires.
Hux stares haughtily at Kylo's back as he waits painfully long for a response. He watches as Kylo's shoulders heave up and down before the large man turns to face him. The new Supreme Leader walks pointedly towards Hux and stops just before him.
"Pull the division out and return to the Finalizer. Send word out to all our forces in all systems. Be on the lookout for anyone who runs with the Resistance. And…" Kylo pauses and looks directly at Hux.
He raises a pointed finger in Hux's face, causing the general to shift back slightly. But neither gentleman breaks eye contact.
"If anyone spots the scavenger, they are to report directly to me. She is to be captured on sight. No harm will come to her," Kylo continues.
"But, Supreme Leader - what if she harms my troops? I cannot expect them to lay down their lives over a simple - eck!" Hux begins before he is silenced by Kylo.
He holds his hand out and chokes the general with the Force. Kylo glares at the general and closes his fist a little tighter.
"No harm will come to her," he speaks through gritted teeth.
Kylo lets Hux go and the room is filled with sputters and coughs as Hux falls to the floor. He walks past the general and heads towards his personal shuttle. After catching his breath, Hux looks up and watches the new Supreme Leader walk away with his cape billowing in the wind.
"Yes...Supreme Leader," Hux says with a glare.