The little girl knew better than to be in this room. For the entirety of her brief life so far, she had been forbidden from entering it. Her mother had sternly enforced the rule, not even permitting her to peek beyond the doorway.
But her mother wasn't home, having left in a hurry but promising to come back as soon as she could. The little girl had tried to behave, to play and to avoid that room that called to her. But inevitably she had been drawn to the door, her hand extending to the knob. Like magic, it turned and creaked open a few inches before she could even lay a finger on it.
And now here she stood, in the small room that was barely more than a closet. It was almost disappointing, if not for the strange object she found her gaze settling upon. It was taller than her, exotic looking.
She crept closer before giving a childish, worried glance behind her. She would be in so much trouble if her mother caught her. She should leave the room and go back to playing, she decided. Despite this thought, however, her feet stayed firmly planted. Her ears pricked as she realized she heard a light humming. Eyes widening, she instinctively knew it was coming from the object. It was shaped like a square pyramid, dark, reflective. She stretched her hand out, suddenly wanting to feel it. Would it be hot, or cold to the touch?
The instant the skin of her fingertips connected with the side, it split open, the sides folding down. She jerked backwards, dropping her hand as guilt spread through her. Now her mother would know what she had done.
Before she could process the utter terror her immature mind associated with disappointing her mother, an image was projected above the base of the object.
It was a holorecording of a man. He had dark, thick hair and intense eyes. A thin scar ran from his left eye down to his mouth, but somehow it didn't mar his handsome face.
He looked too tired, but began speaking. The little girl listened in awe, wondering how a recorded image of a man could seem to look right at her.
"Revan. Day 134. Still nothing to show for my search," he begins, sounding dejected.
"I've had nothing to do out here but contemplate my life's decisions. Far away from the hyperspace routes, from even the most remote outer rim planet…I sometimes question how anything can exist.I fear the silent dark of the unknown regions might very well drive me insane…" The man shakes his head, his eyes stormy. The little girl wants to look away but finds she can't tear her gaze from his. Something about him is compelling, something in her knows this is important. "Everything I have done, I've done to protect our civilization. The threat I have seen from outside is greater than any war we have ever faced amongst ourselves."
The little girl hears the door to her home, and she knows her mother is back. But she doesn't know how to stop the recording. She doesn't want it to stop. What is the man talking about?
"Jeyna! JEYNA!?" Her mother's panicked voice is screaming suddenly throughout the home. The girl startles and turns, confused. It is then she hears the noise, one that she cannot yet place. One day the sound of it will haunt her nightmares, almost every night.
The sound of the first bomb falling on her small village.
18 Years Later
The little girl grew into a young woman, and that young woman threw herself into her studies. Research, archives, archaeological expeditions…it allowed Jeyna to fixate on something purposeful, something that she found fascinating. It should be little surprise that her chosen area of research was Revan. The prodigal Jedi knight, and dark lord of the Sith, from thousands of years before her time.
She still remembers the man's face, the somber timbre of his voice, as if she had seen the recording just yesterday. She remembers his vague reference to a search, to some threat from outside the known galaxy. It's a mystery she's been working on, sponsored by various universities, for most of her adolescent and adult life. And now it has brought her here.
Dantooine
Jeyna races through the cave system, stumbling on chunks of rock and narrowly avoiding hitting her head as she has to run hunched over to fit through the passage. She's unfamiliar with her path, as it's not the same way she had entered the ancient vault. However, it's now her only way out.
Her breath comes in ragged gasps as she forces herself to go as fast as she can through the dark maze, hoping it's leading her to light and freedom. Behind her the stormtroopers' shouts are echoing, reverberating off the rocks and surging towards her. Her heart hammers in her chest as her mind struggles to catch up with the current situation.
The First Order is here, on the peaceful farming planet. And they're coming after her.
Jeyna pushes herself faster when she realizes she sees daylight, the path becoming uphill quickly. The muscles of her legs burn as she climbs, eventually having to use her hands to grab at the jagged rock. It scrapes and cuts into the flesh of her palms as she scrambles upwards, the light growing stronger. She can see beams of light now ahead, coming around a corner. She's nearly to it when the stormtroopers erupt into the space behind her.
"FREEZE! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"
The shouts of the many identical uniforms blur together, and Jeyna ignores them not out of defiance but terror. As she reaches the top of the incline, a blaster shot rips through the air and impacts a large boulder near her shoulder, showering her with fragments of stone.
She staggers, almost falling in surprise, before righting herself and lurching forward. Around the corner, and she can see it. The mouth of the cave system, dead ahead. Jeyna pushes her sore muscles to move as she sprints forward, only to falter.
The sunlight dims as stormtroopers step in front of the opening, blocking any hope of escape.
One Week Later
Are you working for the Resistance?…What does the Resistance want with the Holocron?...How did you get the Holocron to open?...What does the map lead to?... Where are the other pieces of the map?... What do you know of the Ritual of Nathema?... Who is your contact with the Resistance?...What are you trying to find?
The questions they've bombarded her with for days blur together in Jeyna's mind, as sleep deprived and stressed as it is. She's answered their questions, time and time again. She hasn't bothered to hide anything. She isn't a Resistance operative, after all, she's merely a scholar. Their war doesn't concern her.
It doesn't matter. Still, they hurt her. They wake her from her sleep, strap her onto the cold metal board. They ask her the same questions, over and over again, as if her answers could suddenly change. They don't bring her food, and her stomach is past grumbling. It feels hollow, burning, pained. They don't bring water, either, allowing a med droid to supply her with IV fluids to rehydrate her. It keeps her alive but leaves her mouth and throat parched and painful from her screams.
Jeyna twitches her limbs, restricted by the cold metal cuffs. This is the worst part of it. At least when they are done with her for a few hours, she can lay on the floor and curl into herself. But here, strapped to the board, even her head restricted into place, she can't block out her situation or escape from the terror and pain.
The door slides open, and she is expecting more of the same men to appear. What she isn't expecting is Kylo Ren, second in command behind only the Supreme Leader of the First Order.
A wave of relief crashes through her at his recognizable mask and dark robes.
Jeyna knows the rumors about Kylo Ren. That he is violent and ruthless, prone to literally slicing through his enemies on the battlefield and even those that anger him within the order. She doesn't care about those rumors, though. The ones Jeyna cares about are regarding his abilities with the force.
Supposedly, he can enter someone's mind and see everything they are trying to hold back. He can read memories and secrets like a book.
And so she doesn't tremble in fear at his approach, but rather she feels the sweet relief that perhaps her nightmare is almost over. Of course, the logical part of her brain that is still hanging on knows that once he sees she has nothing more to offer in her mind, she will likely be killed. But at least, Jeyna reasons, this marathon of sleep deprivation, starvation, and torture can be over.
His approach, which had started with a purposeful stride, hesitates for a moment. That strange mask he wears tilts to the side, as he contemplates her. She wonders what he is thinking, if he is curious about something, as the door behind him slides shut again and he seems to just be staring at her from behind the metal.
Jeyna draws in a painful breath, waiting. He is huge, she realizes, tall and broad. There is an energy around him that even she can pick up on, heavy and thrumming. Finally, he moves again, coming to a stop in front of her. He is too tall, she attempts to crane her neck to look up at the mask. The back of her skull presses into the hard table, aching. She sees his hand twitch, and suddenly the metal holding her to the interrogation device releases. Her legs barely catch her, almost giving way when she lands on them. She has to grab on to the sides of the table behind her to steady herself on weak, strained muscles.
He turns and strides across the room, to where the metal table and chairs sit. She hasn't even approached it during her confinement. All of her time has been spent trapped on the interrogation device or on the floor, exhausted and wishing for sleep.
To her surprise, Kylo Ren sits in one of the chairs. His mask fixes onto her face again, and he gestures slowly at the table.
"Sit," he commands. The mask strips his voice of humanity, of emotion, making it mechanical and unkind.
She stumbles forward obediently, pulling out the chair and practically falling into it.
"I find myself interested in your studies, scholar," he says idly, as if making pleasant conversation. "I'm going to look inside your mind to check the veracity of your prior statements."
Jeyna nods slightly, having expected this. The feeling of relief returns, accompanied by sadness. He'll see she's told everything she can, and he'll have the stormtroopers come for her. Will they give her a blaster shot to the head? Or just shove her out of an airlock?
Ren reaches forward a hand, low, hovering above the table. The palm of his black glove is up, as if waiting. "Try not to resist me. It will hurt less," his mechanical voice says quietly.
Her eyes widen slightly in surprise at his advice, before the pressure starts in her skull. It's like the atmosphere is suddenly too heavy, pressing down on her head from all sides. And then she feels it, she feels him. It's as if something is inside her brain, crawling around, sliding through her thoughts.
Jeyna instantly resists on instinct, wills away the intrusion. She is met with blinding pain, throbbing and shooting and making her eyes see nothing but static.
"Don't resist," he orders, but she can barely hear him. She tries to obey, to give in. She accepts the pressure, the uncomfortable sense of wrongness that his presence in her mind presents. She feels tears leak out of her eyes at the sensations, but the pain dulls gradually.
When her vision comes back to her, it is swimming. The room is rotating nonsensically, and she grips the edges of the table and fights waves of nausea. Her fingers hurt from the pressure she applied trying to dig them into the metal, and she consciously releases her grip. Slowly, her vision stops spinning and she can focus her eyes again.
Kylo Ren sits across from her, silent. Waiting. She raises her eyes to his mask, and bizarrely wishes she could see his face. Even if it was hideous, even if he was twisted by the dark side like the rumors said… Jeyna would like to see one last face before her death, instead of masks.
He cocks his head slightly to the side again. "You do not work for the resistance," he states finally.
"No. Like I told them, I don't work for anyone," she says, her voice coming out hoarse and frustrated.
"You are wrong," Ren says, suddenly standing. "You work for me now."
Jeyna is left staring after his imposing form as he strides to the door. It slides open for him to exit, and she is left alone to process what he has said.