Seven:

Stormtroopers!

Of course, he shouldn't be shocked that not every ship in the First Order was on Exegol and that not every stormtrooper had handed in his gun. It hadn't happened at the fall of the Empire-hence the existence of the First Order-and he guessed the Resistance and whatever administration they set up would be dealing with the outliers and die-hards for years. But for now, there was a small portion of Ben Solo that was thankful they had improbably appeared because he could definitely use it to his advantage. He skidded to a halt as the front four levelled their blasters at him before he straightened up, assuming his full height and reassembling his most sneering and cold expression. Pretty much everyone in the First Order knew who he was-and if these individuals were actually still First Order, then this might just work.

"Drop the weapon!" the leader clipped, his voice electronically altered. Ben glared at him as he lowered the blaster.

"About time," he growled."Assume control of the area, Section Leader. I want the two humanoids captured. Alive. They have information I need."

There was a pause and the Stormtrooper nodded, obviously inspecting his tall shape, swathed in the cloak and his gaze seeming to linger on his face. For a few microseconds, Ben was thankful his first broadcasts as Supreme Leader had been with his naked face-before he rebuilt his helmet.

"Yes, Supreme Leader," he said and gestured to his men. "You three-take the left. We'll pacify the right." And then they erupted into the street and the sounds of blaster fire intensified. There were yells and squeals and thuds and even a few explosions. Then there was silence. And then tramping feet, inexorably growing closer. Ben turned back to see Finn and Poe being shoved along, their hands in binders and sharing looks that definitely confirmed that they believed he had betrayed them and gone back on everything he had said to them. Unsurprised, he looked remotely at them as they were dragged in front of him. Finn's gaze was especially scathing.

"I believed you," he ground out through his teeth. "I thought Rey had reached you."

She did.

"You should have listened to your friend," Ben said coldly, not answering.

"Yeah-I told you a leopard doesn't change its spots," Poe snarked. A stormtrooper grabbed his arm and jammed his blaster in Poe's neck but Ben shook his head slightly.

"We can discuss this back on your ship," he said, not looking at the stormtrooper. "In detail. First, I have a mission for you." He glanced at the prisoners. "Take them to your shuttle. I have a task for your men, Section Leader. I require some specific items from the markets…"

Glaring at the tall shape, Finn felt the bottom drop from his stomach. He had found himself wanting to believe Kylo Ren, wanting to clutch the hope that Rey could be alive somewhere, that there was a way to bring her back and stop the victory feeling like half a defeat. He knew he should be glad the First Order were defeated-but it really didn't feel like it now, with them prisoners of stormtroopers and on their way to a First Order spacecraft. And along with that thought was another, graver concern: how many more were there out there?

-o0o-

Chewbacca was starting to get worried. He had managed to repurpose some other components to repair what he could but BB8 was driving the Wookiee crazy. Poe had ordered the little droid to remain behind but BB8 was rolling around, beeping and trilling until Chewie had roared at him to get out there and check his friends were okay, if he was that worried. That, at least, had delivered the peace the Wookiee craved so he could finally finish mending the conduits Finn had messed up with his incompetent efforts at piloting the incredibly temperamental Falcon so they were ready for the last few parts.

Chewie had seen the stormtroopers as well and he was getting a very bad feeling about them…

-o0o-

Rey was hanging off a cliff slick with ice, purple lightning rending the skies overhead. Her fingers were frozen and she barely had any grip on the ledge she was standing on The nearest handhold was almost too far to reach and she was in real danger of falling.

"Danger there is but of falling it is not," Yoda said, floating up past her.

"Easy enough for you to say," Rey muttered, throwing herself across the gap and digging her fingers in.

"Not really," Yoda conceded. Irritated, she looked up.

"Why am I doing this?" she asked. Luke glanced down at her.

"You seek to reach the living once more," he reminded her. "And something has blocked your Bond to Kylo Ren."

"Ben," Rey insisted, her eyes burning with tears. She had felt him, there on Exegol. In the heat of battle, as she was faced with the impossible choice, the inevitable sacrifice that would doom her to becoming the monster she had seen on the ruins of the Death Star, she had reached out-and he was there. Warm, alive...and light. But losing...so she had offered him help through the Bond, offered him salvation-and he had taken the lightsaber from her hand, their skin brushing so slightly but more than enough to send electricity up her arm. And then he had run to her side as they faced the real evil together.

She had seen him, heard him...but she couldn't feel him. Not any more. She knew he was alive. And he was a trained Force user-was he a Jedi now he was good or did he defy definitions of Sith and Jedi, given his path? All she knew was that he was alive and he should be able to see her, be able to speak with her as she had with Luke. But he couldn't. Something was wrong...and she needed to speak with him once more, to know that her certainty had been worthwhile. That her friends were well and that the evil was gone. Maybe then, she could rest…

Scarlet lightning rent the sky and the rock under her fingers crumbled. With a piercing scream, she plummeted and vanished amid the flashing clouds.

-o0o-

"I knew we should have chained him up and locked him in the smuggling compartments," Poe growled, sitting uncomfortably, shackled to the chair as Finn observed the troopers who were standing guard over them as the shuttle prepared for departure .

"Chewie refused," Finn reminded them. In deciding what was happening, the big Wookiee had finally taken a casting vote and insisted that Ren wasn't left on the Falcon. There had been a brief look in Ren's dark eyes that had almost been hurt but he had said nothing, accepting their judgement. To Poe's mind, it was now clear that he had already been plotting his own revenge and finding the stormtroopers had just made it a whole lot easier. "Now we know why."

"I should have shot him when I first came into that cell," Poe grumbled.

"Shooting a helpless man chained to a bed and drugged," Finn mused. "Yeah, that really makes us better than the First Order."

"Instead, the First Order have us two as prisoners-and no one knows they still exist," Poe pointed out. "We need to get word to the Base that they are here and their numbers."

"Or destroy them," Finn suggested.

"And how do we do that?" Poe asked him. "No Starkiller type weapons to blow up. No bombers. No cruisers to smash into them…" Something beeped. "Yes, except the Falcon…" Then he started. "BB8?" he breathed, deliberately not moving a muscle to look down at the droid as he would usually do.

Beebee-8 gave a happy beep and ducked back behind Poe and Finn as the troopers shifted from foot to foot, bored and staring stolidly forward. None of them reacted to the sound of the droid. Why would they? If there was a droid in the shuttle, it was meant to be there, right? But the former pilot felt a tug and as he lowered his wrists to his lap, a fine probe snaked over his leg and began to pick the binders. Finn leaned close to try to shield the action from the troopers, casting his friend a worried glance...before there was a clang and the doors closed. Instantly, the shuttle began to rise straight up into the grey and drizzly sky. The troopers visibly relaxed.

"Not long until we're back on board," one murmured, just audible.

"I hate this port," another murmured. "Mud eating scum. We lost two more from Red Section yesterday."

"Bloody smugglers and slavers," a third commented. "We should just blast the planet to make an example."

"At least the Captain has a plan," the first muttered. "At least he did. Can't see him overjoyed about this latest development." And then the troopers turned back to the two prisoners. "He'll want to know what these two have on the Resistance." Finn and Poe shared a look.

"Um-we don't know anything," Finn suggested as the troopers stared at them.

"Can we go now?" Poe added.

"Supreme Leader Ren says you do-so we're under orders to deliver you to the interrogators," the first stormtrooper told them emotionlessly.

"I knew I should have shot him," Poe muttered. Finn nodded.

"Twice," he agreed.

-o0o-

Ben had pulled his hood up and his cloak around his aching body and parked himself in the back corner of the shuttle, the shadows concealing his face. The leader of the stormtroopers handed a squat item over and he grasped it carefully, then squirreled it away. Silent and glowering, he noted the stormtroopers all positioned themselves as far away from him as they could which was a small relief. He braced himself as the shuttle juddered and took off, arching up into the tempestuous sky. Shuddering through turbulence, they finally broke the cloud cover and accelerated into the inky blackness, heading towards the unmistakable shape of a First Order vessel. And then he felt his body tense.

He knew that ship. Battered and repaired but still impressive, the Resurgent Class Star Destroyer blotted out a swathe of the brilliant unwinking stars overhead as the shuttle sped home. Taking a deep breath, Ben closed his eyes and tried to reach out and access the Force-but whatever the Resistance had given him was still blocking his access. Resisting the temptation to give any outward sign, he remained still as the shuttle sped through the force field and landed neatly by its fellow in landing bay 12. As soon as they touched down, the doors opened and ramp extended. Ben turned-to meet, as expected, a welcoming party.

The Captain in his dark khaki-grey uniform nodded a curt greeting.

"Welcome to the Finalizer, Supreme Leader," he said. Walking forward briskly, Ben nodded, inspecting the cool, neat shape of Captain Edrison Peavey. The man was a consummate professional, a man who had served in the old Empire and who Ren had known held the late and distinctly unlamented General Hux in utter contempt. He recalled the Peavey had been carefully guarded around him and he wished for the thousandth time he had his access to the Force, because he guessed he would need to gauge the man's mind carefully. Peavey would know the First Order had fallen, that the leadership was gone and would be operating independently. A member of the older generation of senior officers, Peavey had been quietly suspicious of Snoke and Ren, sceptical of Force sorcery and unnatural powers that were as capricious and cruel as the men who had wielded them. Not that Kylo Ren had done anything to ingratiate himself to the regular officers, for his status was somewhat aside from the normal command structure, though he had expected immediate obedience from any of them when he required it. And now, stripped of the structures of the First Order and his own powers, 'Kylo Ren' had to hope that Peavey still assumed he was the man he had been and would grant him the obedience and deference due to that status.

"I require quarters and once I have freshened up, I wish to interrogate the prisoners," Ben said icily.

"No need," Peavey told him calmly. "My interrogators have already started." Inwardly groaning, Ben lurched forward, his eyes glaring furiously as he invaded the Captain's personal space.

"Are you deaf, Captain?" he asked.

"I think the answer to that is obvious, Supreme Leader," he replied pleasantly.

"Stupid?"

"I think not, sir," the Captain replied.

"Insubordinate?" At that, the Captain bridled, his eyes flashing with anger.

"I am a loyal officer!" he proclaimed.

But to who? Ben thought. "Then you will have no difficulty hearing, understanding and obeying my orders, Captain. Withdraw your men. I want the prisoners unharmed because it facilitates my examinations if they are not already beaten semi-conscious. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, Supreme Leader," Captain Peavey said smoothly. "I will attend to it immediately. Lieutenant Faju-please conduct the Supreme Leader to the quarters I have arranged for him. Ensure his every need is catered for. Then have him conducted to the prisoners to begin their questioning." Turning away, Ben followed the short and lightly perspiring lieutenant who had been given the thankless task of being his minder. Fists clenched, he hoped he could carry this off and get them off the Finalizer before Peavey uncovered the truth.

-o0o-

Finn and Poe were in interrogation chairs next to one another in a shiny and partially lit interrogation cell. Both were lightly bruised but just as the interrogators were getting started, a rather sheepish stormtrooper had come in and hastily handed over new orders, causing the interrogators to back off, muttering in annoyance.

Poe was furious, muttering a variety of painful and graphic revenges he was going to enact upon Kylo Ren when he got his hands on him while Finn was wracked with a combination of anger, guilt and betrayal at how easily he had been played and how ruthlessly they had been betrayed. He sighed. Somehow, he would get out and then they would ensure Ren didn't get away again. They had glimpsed BB8 scuttling away as they were taken off the shuttle and both men were hoping that the resourceful little droid would find a way to rescue them. But until then, they were at the mercy of the First Order.

"Poe?"

"Yes, Finn?"

"Are you still mad?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I didn't know that many cuss words."

Poe chuckled.

"Once I'm out of here, I'll be okay-provided BB8 can sneak through without getting caught," he murmured slowly then looked around. "Are prisoners usually put two to an interrogation cell?"

"Not normally," Finn confessed. "This is a Resurgent Class so it's literally bursting with cells and interrogation rooms. I hardly think they're so busy they have to double us up-unless they are planning to try to persuade one of us to talk while the other one…" He looked up. "Sorry. I really did believe him. I felt he was being honest." Poe shrugged.

"I kinda found myself wanting to believe it-because it meant there was some hope for Rey," he sighed. "I should have let BB8 continue setting him on fire."

The hiss of the door jerked them back to the present and two Stormtroopers marched in, followed by the familiar dark shape that had the pair scowling in hatred, eyes blazing with anger and betrayal. Kylo Ren was back in black, a modified black General's uniform wrapped around his tall frame, black gloves creaking as he balled his fists and his expression cold and remote. Locking his eyes on the prisoners, he spoke.

"Wait outside," he said. "I need no help to wring these two dry." The stormtroopers marched out without hesitation and the door hissed closed. Ben knew that the stormtroopers tended to withdraw halfway down the corridor because of the screams and hoped they recalled his reputation and did so this time.

"TRAITOR!" Poe threw at him. "Knew I should have shot you the moment I saw you were alive!"

"Rey would be ashamed!" Finn growled at him. "She always thought there was good in you. You have betrayed her memory!"

"He should have left you to die on Exegol!" Poe snapped.

"Yeah!" Finn agreed, glaring. Ben stared at them and extended his gloved hand, leaning towards them, his frame stiff as if he was concentrating hard.

"I have the part," he murmured. Poe blinked and stared at him.

"What?"

"Just kriffing play along!" Ben grunted through his teeth. "And writhe a bit." Finn's eyes widened in surprise.

"You…" he hissed. Maintaining his pose, Ben glanced at him.

"Would my being shot by the stormtroopers or the aliens have actually gained anything?" he asked in a low voice. "Apart from making you both feel better, of course. So I gambled they would recognise me. Why do you think you're both in here?"

"We know you have no power," Poe taunted him. "How's that gonna work for you?"

"When will the drug wear off?" Ben demanded, his eyes glittering coldly.

"Already should have done," Poe taunted him. "Except we gave you ten times the recommended dose. Maybe it won't ever come back…" Ben's fists clenched with a creak of leather and for a moment, he looked exactly like the man who had wielded the spitting red lightsaber with such lethal skill and brutality…

...and then, he took a deep breath and his hands relaxed, He locked his eyes on the men before him and stretched his hand out again, his brows furrowed and eyes dark against his pale skin.

"Then we may never get out of here," he said grimly. "And I will never be able to reach Rey."

-o0o-

A/N: Couldn't resist bringing back Captain Peavey. Ade Edmondson was just perfect.