AN: Hey guys! As I post this, this story has reached 1,154 total views. I couldn't be happier this is a huge milestone for me and I just want to thank every single person who reads this. I really love you guys, thank you.
I'd like to thank Gray Maka for adding this to your favorites list, it means a lot to me.
SaintsFan1- Rey's definitely showing signs of going over to the darkness. She's actually considering the possibility that Luke was right to stop her. Let's just hope that she can learn to not let her anger show without Luke's help. Kylo definitely feels proud that his plan is working. The attack will happen in the next chapter, lets just hope nothing goes wrong and he'll be punished for it. Rey admitting her feelings was a big step for her, and I'm glad that you liked that she did it. Hopefully Kylo doesn't do anything to ruin it. Thank you so much again for reviewing!
C.Z.B.- I'm so glad that you liked it. Yeah, you wouldn't have expected Rey to sound so protective of him. I definitely feel that the more I write, the longer the chapters get. This one isn't longer than chapter 11 but it's long nonetheless. I'm happy that you were impressed by how long chapter 11 was, that's usually something that my friends make fun of so it's nice to know that you liked it. Poe's reaction is definitely going to be different, but it's not in the way that you expect it to be. You'll just have to wait and find out. I couldn't help but smile at your review, I'm glad that I got that reaction from you. Thanks again for reviewing!
The reviews definitely leave a smile on my face (along with the amount of views ;) ) and I just can't thank you guys enough.
But you don't want to hear me go on about this stuff do you? Let's get on with chapter 12.
Chapter 12
Kylo had the privilege of sleeping in an hour later the next morning. There wasn't much that needed to be done, but nonetheless he couldn't sleep in all day. As he got himself ready, he could feel the ship beginning to come back online as it readied itself for flight. It was large and it needed time to warm up the engines after sitting for several days.
He couldn't help but think about what Rey had done yesterday. She had become so angry and confused with Luke that she acted exactly like him. She was temperamental, but couldn't contain her anger for long periods of time. That was something that she needed to learn if she was ever going to join him.
But, hopefully that will be made easier. She had said that she trusted him, and he couldn't help but smile knowing that part of his task was complete. He too had started to trust her in a way. She was able to calm him down and make his fear and concern for her disappear whenever she offered him reassurance.
As he had finished his ordered breakfast he put on his helmet and went to go talk to Snoke to share this development. Everyone on board was running about and making sure that the preparations for flight had been made.
It was complete and utter chaos. There were officers all over the place making sure that everything was running smoothly. The stormtroopers were running around carrying out the orders that they have been given. Honestly he wished he could just stay in his room the whole day. The halls and every room was filled with people moving around to the point where it felt crammed.
Most days he'd take pride in the First Order's efficiency and fast paced working style in a situation similar to this. But he just didn't want to deal with it today, they were attacking tomorrow and he needed to figure out how he was going to make Rey come with him.
Despite the crowded halls, he was able to make it to the chamber at a relatively fast pace. Being him had its privileges, considering that nobody wanted to be in his way for fear of taking a lightsaber to the chest. As he entered the chamber Snoke's image was waiting for him. "Kylo Ren, how are the preparations coming along?"
"Everything is running smoothly master. We are preparing to take flight as we speak. Once all systems are up and running we will be able to leave the planet."
"Very good. How are things going with the girl?"
"She's feeling confused and angry towards Skywalker because he won't help her to control her powers."
"Have you offered your guidance to her?"
"No master, I need to wait until she feels desperate enough to the point where she has no choice in the matter."
"Very well. Have you found out if the Resistance know's what we've been planning?"
"Yes. Rey had a force vision about the planet exploding. She's informed them of this but they are taking it as a possibility. The General had told Rey that force visions could be wrong and are taking precautions for it. But, they aren't treating it as a major concern at the moment."
"Excellent. They only have half of their guard up. Even if they do prepare for it, they'll never know the scale of the full blown attack."
"Of course master."
"Have you earned the girl's trust?"
"Yes master, she just told me last night actually."
"Excellent. Did you find out where the new base is?"
"No master. The Resistance isn't leaving until tomorrow. Rey doesn't know where it is yet. But considering that she's piloting the Falcon to it, I believe that they'll most likely tell her where it is today. But I can't be certain."
"Very well. Inform me immediately if she is told."
"Of course master." Kylo waited for Snoke to dismiss him but it never came. "Master, is something the matter?"
"I sense something in the force."
"What is it master?"
"I can't be sure, but it's a presence. I haven't felt it in a long time."
"What kind of presence."
"The presence of Jedi Master Yoda."
"But that's impossible. He's been dead for years."
"He is dead, it's his force presence I feel."
"Is it his force ghost?"
"Indeed. It was a day or two ago, but I just now felt it's lingering effect."
"Should we be concerned?"
"No, there's nothing that can be done. He most likely visited Skywalker to give him guidance. There's nothing that can be done about it, he doesn't have much power as a ghost. But I haven't felt his presence in the force since he first came back as a force ghost many years ago. It's interesting as to why he would come back now."
"I see."
"You are dismissed my apprentice."
"Yes master." Kylo bowed and left the chamber. He'd heard many stories about Yoda from Luke when he was a child. He was the oldest Jedi ever known and was the wisest. In the days of the Republic he was the most trusted on the Jedi council, he was known across the galaxy. That was of course until he and the Jedi were gone and they were believed to be myths.
Skywalker must have really needed his guidance if he had decided to come back after so many years. He had managed to make his way to the bridge to see how the preparations were coming.
It was more chaotic here than anywhere else. The bridge was overflowing with people trying to make sure that the ship was operational. From what he could tell all systems were running to perfection and it would only be a matter of hours until they could leave.
Hux appeared at his side and he had the same cockiness on his face as he always did. "How are things going General?"
"We're right on schedule. We should be fully capable of flight within the next 3 hours."
"Excellent. What needs to be done about charging the weapon?"
"We've already taken the liberty of installing the energy cells with the ones used for the ship. We've hooked it up to the weapon and with the push of a button it can charge."
"How long will it take?"
"It should take roughly 30 minutes or longer. But it will definitely be a quick charge. We've already stored 100 cases of extra energy cells for later uses."
"Excellent. Is the attack plan figured out to distract the enemy?"
"Of course. We may run through it if you'd like."
"That can be done later. We need to focus on getting the Finalizer airborne."
"Of course sir."
"Have the Resistance fighters returned to our system?"
"No. They bought the excuse that we gave them. They won't be bothering Subterrel again."
"Good, they won't be a problem for us any longer. Has everything been accounted for?"
"Yes. Every trooper, every tie fighter, every officer, and every last bit of supplies has all been accounted for. There's nothing missing."
"Perfect. Inform me when we are about to take off."
"Yes sir." Neither of them made a move. "If I may be so bold to ask. How are you going to get the girl on board?"
"I'm not sure Hux, I can't do what I did last time. If I do she'll never let me train her."
"Oh so that's what this is all about. You're taking on a little pet." Kylo growled at his statement. Referring to Rey like that just made him angry.
"Don't you ever refer to her like that again! If you must, say she's my apprentice but nothing more."
"Getting a little protective of her aren't you Ren? Very well, but remember if she tries to escape it's on you not me." He watched as Hux walked away from him. He couldn't help but become protective of her, after everything they've said to each other.
He sighed as he watched the crew scurry about. Tomorrow just couldn't come fast enough for him.
Rey had been avoiding Poe and Finn all day. Finn had no doubt told Poe about what happened yesterday by now. She already felt bad about it, they were the only friends that she had. But she meant every word she said about Kylo, she had begun to trust him. Nobody will ever see him the way she does, Leia perhaps, but no one else.
As she walked through the halls BB-8 suddenly rolled right in front of her and she had to stop herself from not running into him. "BB-8 you have to be careful. I could've hit you." He started beeping at her like crazy.
"Alright alright. Calm down, I can't understand what you're saying." He started to beep slower so that she can understand. He had told her that something had happened with Chewie and that she needed to follow him.
"Okay I'm coming." She began following the round droid through the base until they reached a room that she believed to be the training area for the ground troops. As she entered the room she didn't see Chewie anywhere. "BB-8 are you sure that Chewie's in here? I don't see him."
As she turned around to face the droid he was gone. "You sneaky little thing." She had been set up by Poe and Finn and as she turned around she saw that she was right. Finn didn't look as upset as yesterday, but she still saw confusion in his face. Not as much as Poe though, he probably had no idea what was going on.
"Guys if this is some kind of intervention to get me to forget about Kylo it's not going to work." Poe spoke up to cut her short.
"No Rey, I don't even know why we're here. All Finn told me was that you had a force connection with Kylo Ren, then he dragged me here and told BB-8 to go get you. I have no idea what's going on."
"Finn what's the meaning of all of this?"
"I've thought things over and I guess I've come to accept what you have with Kylo."
"The force connection or the fact that I trust him?"
"The first part." Poe looked at her and Finn.
"Wait a minute, since when did you start trusting Kylo?"
"Well I've been talking to him for awhile now and I've seen a different side of him that nobody else knows about. And the fact that he's told me nothing but the truth, besides his plan, I trust him."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I was afraid that you guys would be really mad and get angry with me. The way Finn acted yesterday is why I didn't want to tell you." Finn turned to her.
"I'm really sorry about that Rey. I still think that it's a bad idea for you to be talking to him. He'll make you go to the Dark Side." She sighed, she didn't want to have to explain this again.
"He can't force me to go to the Dark Side, he said it himself. I have to want it and accept it on my own terms, and believe me that will never happen. Poe you trust me on this right?"
"Well yeah. You're a strong girl Rey, you don't really belong in the darkness. Besides doesn't that have to do with like your emotions giving you power, more specifically your anger?"
"Pretty much, yeah. That's one way to describe it."
"And you can't really stay angry for long periods of time, hence the fact that you needed to let it out."
"Right. You seem pretty okay with this."
"I mean there's nothing that you can really do about it really. You can't get rid of it so you've accepted it. As long as you don't give out any information about our plans I see no harm in it."
"Thank you. And I didn't tell him anything if you were wondering."
"That's good. I mean I'm still concerned and everything but I'm not freaking out about it. I want to still be friends with you and if that means accepting that you talk to Kylo Ren occasionally, I'm perfectly okay with that."
"Thank you Poe. The last thing I want is to lose you guys, you're my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Same here Rey." Finn had been completely silent. Rey and Poe looked at him waiting for an answer. "Uh Finn." Poe waved his hand in front of his face to see if he was zoned out. "Yoohoo. Buddy, are you home?" He snapped his fingers and that seemed to have taken him out of his trance.
"How are you okay with this Poe?"
"I don't know I just am. I don't think we should lose one of our friends over something like this."
"But he's the enemy."
"Well yeah, but we should support Rey on this and respect her decision. If she trusts him there's nothing else we can do about it."
"But what if he finds out where the base is like in her vision?"
"I don't know, but if it happens it happens. We just need to prepare ourselves for it and hope for the best. Come on Finn, you can't be this upset about it."
"I can't help it. How can she see another side to that monster?"
"I don't think there's another side to him either, but apparently there is one with her. If she's learned to see things from a new perspective, we just have to accept that."
"Alright fine, but if something goes wrong and Kylo turns on her don't say I didn't warn you." Rey decided to speak up.
"Don't worry, I know when he's hiding something. And right now it's probably about the First Order's plan. He wouldn't go against me or something, the fact that he showed concern for me proves it."
"Alright alright, I'm just saying."
"So, are you willing to accept it."
"As much as I really really hate it, I don't want to lose my best friend. So I'll go along with it, but don't expect me to completely forget about it."
"Well that's at least a start." There was silence for a few seconds before Poe spoke up.
"I think that it's time to relieve the tension a little bit. How about we all go get something to eat and you can tell me how this whole connection thing works." Finn turned to look at Poe.
"How is that relieving the tension if we're just going to be talking about it?"
"Well, I want to know how it works. We can talk about something different after, alright?"
"Yeah okay." As the three started to walk away, Rey couldn't help but smile as her two friends walked in front of her. She was really glad that Poe had accepted what she had with Kylo and that Finn was trying to make an effort. She didn't have to worry about them anymore.
She felt herself warm from Kylo's anger, and it only helped to strengthen her mood.
As Kylo walked around the Finalizer he could feel it starting to rev up it's engines. He quickly made his way over to the bridge to oversee its take off. As he arrived he saw that it wasn't as chaotic as before, but there were still more people around than usual.
Suddenly he heard Hux's voice beside him. "I was just about to get you. We're ready to depart."
"Excellent. You may proceed." He watched as Hux gave the order to take off. It was slow moving but he could feel, and see through the window, the ship beginning to rise off the ground.
It took about 10 or so minutes to have it high enough to the point where they could begin to move upwards into the atmosphere. Soon enough he could see the stars illuminating the blackness that was space. They stopped when they had reached a good enough distance away from the planet.
"Well done General."
"Thank you sir. Do you have the coordinates for the Resistance's base?"
"No, but I'll receive them soon."
"You better otherwise all of this will have been a waste of time."
"Don't worry I'll make sure that it won't be. I believe that now would be a good time to go over the plan of attack."
"Of course." They made their way over to the large round holographic display table. Hux pulled up the battle plans for tomorrow. "Once all of the Resistance's ships have landed, we'll send in a small group of bombers that will aim for the outer workings of the base. This will have them believe that we are directly attacking the base."
"Good, they'll start to pull their fighters and have them become occupied with them. This will lead them to believe that the planet won't explode and that this is our only attack. Therefore making them more vulnerable."
"Once the bombing run is done, we'll send in more tie fighters to make it look believable and to keep them busy. This will allow us to give you the cover that you need to land your command shuttle without causing any alarms."
"Perfect. Have the pilots continue the attack until I've gotten Rey and send in any reinforcements if necessary. When I've gotten her and you've received the order to fire from Snoke I want you to pull them out. This will make them believe that they have won and that they're safe."
"Of course. Once all of our ships have returned, I'll get the ship into a safe distance and then fire on the planet. Ending the Resistance for good."
"Excellent. If everything goes according to this we shouldn't have a problem."
"I agree. If the Resistance starts to somehow overcome us I'll send in reinforcements."
"Very good. Just keep the fighting away from me and we should be fine. I'll land my shuttle on the outskirts of the base, hopefully in a clearing surrounded by trees or something. I won't enter the base but I'll need Rey to come to me."
"Do you think she'll come willingly?"
"I hope so, but if she won't I'll have to do what I did last time with her. I'll make her fall asleep with the force and just wake her when we arrive."
"Excellent, I'll inform the Supreme Leader immediately." Hux turned off the hologram and left to go see Snoke. Kylo really hoped that this plan would work. It was the only shot that they had at destroying the Resistance once and for all, and they couldn't mess this up.
He hoped that Rey wouldn't be too upset over everything that was happening. The only way to find out was to wait and see what would happen tomorrow.
AN: So what did you guys think? I couldn't decide to make Poe angry with Rey or not. But I decided to throw her a bone and let him not freak out like Finn did. While Finn is trying to work through this, he still doesn't like it and he might just interfere with Kylo's plan.
I'm thinking about splitting up the attack into several chapters instead of just cramming it in all at once. I've been building up to it and I think it deserves to have some space to get everything across.
Feel free to review and let me know your thoughts. You guys are the reason that I do this and it just makes me so happy that you guys like it.
I'll see you in the next chapter, may the force be with you.