Kylo Ren lay in his dark bedroom on the Star Destroyer Finalizer. He was deep in thought, the only light came from far off planets and their stars which cast a dim glow over him. He could see a TIE-Fighter pass over his skylight. The room was cold and he had his covers pulled up to his chin almost like a child.
It had been nearly two weeks since the ordeal on Star Killer Base and they were stuck in a tireless routine of floating through the void of space. They were no closer to fixing the Hyper drive and they were still no closer to finding Skywalker or getting the map that would lead them to him. Each day Hux was becoming more insufferable. He seemed to think that Ren was not trying hard enough to get the map. That he had grown to care for the scavenger girl. Kylo Twisted onto his side, he could not help but hear the words of the Supreme Leader reverberating in his ears. "You have… Compassion for her?"
He could not deny, to himself at least, that he had grown fond of the scavenger. During the interrogations and the times when he entered her mind, he had learned a lot about her. He had learned what a dangerous life she had led on the planet Jakku. One thing that intrigued him was that her memories didn't go back to the time before she was abandoned on the almost desolate planet Jakku. He could see no images of her parents. Her memories seemed to begin when she watched her parents leave. He could not help but wonder about the reason behind it. Maybe the memories were concealed using the force? It would explain how she had been unfamiliar with the force if her parents had taken her memories away but that would surely mean they were force users themselves.
Kylo lay in his bed for a while, waiting for un-consciousness to finally overcome him. He watched the Tie-Fighters fly past his window, each time they sped past he would count in his head, like a child counting sheep, attempting -unsuccessfully- to bring sleep.
It was maybe an hour later when something peculiar happened, the Tie-Fighters did not make their usual round. Kylo in his boredom had counted how many seconds it took for one of the two tie-fighters to make their way past his skylight. He lay waiting for a few minutes before he knew something was wrong. He could hear shooting from the Tie-Fighters. He did not move. The only sound was his own breathing and the sound of shots from above him. A red light quickly streaked across his window and illuminated his face for a second. He sat bolt upright.
Outside his room he could hear the clatter of Stormtrooper armour and their illegible mutterings. He briskly swung his legs off the bed and stood up. He strode over to his wardrobe and pulled his robes over his night garments. He quickly brushed his fingers through his hair to make it seem somewhat presentable. The door swung open as he walked towards it, he marched down the corridor to the control bay, in a seriously bad and tired mood.
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Rey sat on her bed with the palm of her hand faced outwards at a piece of glass halfway across the room. She was attempting to bring it towards her. She could not deny that she was feeling a stronger connection with the force, maybe it was because of the practise she was doing or perhaps being in close proximity to another force user. She had a sudden thought and quickly redirected her hand to the heavy, dull metal doors ahead of her. She directed all her thoughts to trying to open the door. She could feel the Force moving through her, as if it were part of her very being. She could feel it coursing through her veins. She got to her feet and began to edge towards the door. Her bare feet cold on the metal floor.
As she advanced she could feel the force going through the air, she could feel it working. She was about a metre away from the door now. She tensed her fingers as if she were attempting to grab something that was not there. She opened her eyes and the door flew open. A small smile caressed her lips. She began to walk towards the open door when the white armour of a Stormtrooper met her. A small red and black droid was beside it holding a food tray.
"What do you think you're doing?" The Stormtrooper pushed her into the cell and shut the door briskly behind him. Rey stumbled backwards and landed on her bed. It quickly dawned on her that she was not the one who opened the door, he was. "Are you trying to get me killed? It looked like I was letting you out!" He was breathing heavily.
"Look… I'm sorry, okay? I can still try and escape, can't I?" Rey said in a slightly exasperated tone. She and the Stormtrooper had grown to become, if not friends, familiar with one another.
"Just eat your food… I need to get to my station, there is some Y-Wing outside and troopers are being ordered to their posts."
"Does Ren think that the Resistance is trying to bring us down?" She asked as she took a mouthful of plain bread.
"We haven't heard from him yet, but it is still early." The trooper said in a tired voice.
She had grown to learn many things about the Stormtrooper, and of Finn, during her time here. She had learned that they had been friends and that before Finn had escaped the two of them were hatching a plan to escape from the Order… Only Finn had taken matters into his own hands and had escaped with Poe. She learned that Finn was the leader of their training group and had been the best of them all, but he had always been a bit of a loner. She learned that the trooper had been snatched away from his family as a baby, just as Finn had been, and that they will never know him. She pitied him and all of the other Stormtroopers who were destined to live a life as a mindless solider in the war of the light and dark.
Rey gulped down her water and the picked at the crumbs that remained on the reflective plate. The Stormtrooper began to tap his foot on the floor, indicating for her to hurry up. She rolled her eyes slightly and held out the plate to him. He took it hurriedly and began to walk from the room. She watched him leave without another word. When he was on the other side of the door he nodded and the doors slammed shut to leave her to her own thoughts. Y-Wing… She thought to herself. Somewhere in her heart she thought that it could be a rescue mission, but then, why would they come now? She had been there for a while -she did not know exactly how long due to having no sense of time- so why had they not come already.
She laid her head down on her grey lumpy pillow and listened to the sound of gun fire.
(===||===)
A few hours earlier…
Poe had his helmet slung under his arm and was leaning against a wall. BB-8 was beside him silent, he just sat there looking at Poe. Finn had just been discharged from the medical bay and it was time for their flawlessly devised plan to be put into action. Finn was walking straighter every day and said that he was feeling much better. Poe knew that he was desperate to find Rey. Poe could not help but feel a small bit of envy towards Finn's feelings to Rey. He obviously cared so much about her.
Poe straightened up when Finn walked around the corner, he was slipping Poe's old flight jacket on and Poe could not help but subconsciously bite his lip in pleasure at seeing his friend. Finn saw Poe and nodded.
"You ready for this?" Poe said as Finn began to walk past him causing him to quicken his pace in order to keep beside him as they made their way to the hanger with BB-8 rolling beside them.
"As ready as I will ever be." Finn replied quickly, his voice conveyed how concerned he was about what they were about to do. Poe threw his hand across Finn's chest and turned him to face himself.
"You do know that we are going to be fine? Right? You have the best pilot in the resistance flying you." Poe flashed a small smile at Finn. Finn just shook his head. "I promise we will make it back, okay buddy?" Poe stressed the point, trying to take a small bit of stress from his friend.
"Yeah… Yeah we are going to be okay… We are going to be okay…" Finn's voice trailed off as he looked forwards. Poe turned his head to see what had made all the colour drain from his friend's face. General Leia Organa stood before them, with a look conveying that she was not impressed. Not in the slightest.
"What do you think you are doing out at such a late hour?" Leia said, her hands on her hips. Finn and Poe looked at the General like naughty children being caught sneaking out, which was really what they were.
"We were just going for a practice flight, General." Poe said, his voice was as good as a confession. Leia raised her eyebrows.
"You would tell me the truth… Wouldn't you Finn?" She aimed this attack at Finn who Poe knew when put under pressure was not the greatest liar.
"We…" His voice trailed off, he looked at Poe apologetically, Poe shook his head slightly, all the time Leia's eyes were flicking from one to the other. "We are going to get Rey." Finn said, his head hung low. Leia was silent for a second, Poe was waiting for her to regain her voice and send them straight back inside.
"You can go and get her…" Poe and Finn both looked up in surprise at her words.
"Really?" Poe said, searching her dark eyes for a trick of some sort, the general would never normally let an Y-Wing out of the hanger unless it was for patrols or a battle.
"Under one condition." Leia said. Poe stopped and felt his heart give a jolt, but before he could ask what her condition was, Finn had already answered.
"Anything." Finn said, he was slightly breathless from the excitement.
"You bring my son back. If you bring him back, I am sure… that if I talk to him… I just have to have hope that if I see him I can turn him back to the light." Her voice trailed off, there was undeniable sadness in her eyes, a look of someone who had lost everything. Poe could see out of the corner of his eye that the smile on Finn's face had slid off. "I'm going to go back inside ... It's up to you both now." The old woman walked back into the base. Finn and Poe watched her go, when she was safely out of hearing distance Finn broke into speech.
"We can't. We just can't. Kylo Ren is too far gone for anyone to bring him back, even his mother." Finn said as he shook his head.
"Finn…" Poe trailed off, he was looking at the ground.
"You cannot seriously be considering this?!" Finn said as he threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Hey, you want to get Rey back don't you? And right now, this seems like our only shot." Poe could see the sun just peaking over the horizon. "And if we are going to go, we better get going, and quick, before it becomes too light and people start waking up." Finn looked back at the resistance base and then at an Y-Wing.
"I'm going to regret this… but okay." Finn said in a low tone. "Let's get going." At with that they both began to run towards the Y-Wing with BB-8 beeping in a nervous manner as he rolled beside them.
(===||===)
"Would you like to remind me of what exactly our plan was again?" Finn said from the gunner position behind the Poe's seat. Finn's voice cracked slight, Poe could tell that he was nervous and was doubting the hours that they had spent putting into their plan.
The blue and white lights from the light speed tunnel illuminated the cockpit. Poe coolly replied, "We are going to get to the Finalizer and fly around it, and hopefully they will have some common sense and bring us in. Once they bring us in they will take us to a holding cell where we convince them to bring Rey and then …."
Finn interrupted, despair laced through his voice, "And this is all just based on hope and a prayer right? Because they may already have the map to Skywalker and may already have killed her".
"Hey, from what I have heard about her from you she is one hell of a fighter. They won't have the map, I promise you." Poe could feel doubt begin to cloud his vision but he ignored it as best he could. "Coming out of light speed in three, two, one." Poe quickly tapped a bright green button and the blue and white lights disappeared, replaced by the menacing silhouette of the Star Destroyer Finalizer.
"And now we just circle it?" Finn said doubtfully.
"Maybe take out a few Tie-Fighters while we do it." Poe said playfully.
Meanwhile…
Kylo was walking in long strides towards the control room where he could imagine Hux pacing back and forth. The doors flew open and Kylo walked inside the room and he was not disappointed. The general was yelling orders at a young tech. Kylo walked towards the ginger man.
"Why, pray tell, is there a resistance ship still flying? Surely your soldiers are capable enough to destroy a, oh look, it's a Y-Wing." The spacecraft flew across the wide windscreen of the Star Destroyer.
"We have just got images of the pilot and the gunner, we are now trying to bring them in." Hux said, he was not looking at Kylo but out of the bay window at the spiralling and barrel rolling Y-Wing.
"And who are they, the Pilot and the gunner, and why do they warrant such special treatment?" He put a cruel twist on the last words. Hux continued to look out of the window.
"It is the Resistance Pilot we caught some time ago and FN-Two-One-Eight-Seven. I believe they are here in an attempt to rescue your little play thing." Hux said with contempt in his voice. A small smile crept onto the Generals lips when he saw the anger visibly begin to rise in his co-worker.
"Why are we capturing them? Why don't we just kill them?" Kylo said through gritted teeth, his fingernails digging into his palms. He could remember the last time he and the traitor had come face to face. He felt a wave of anger that the blows he inflicted on the back were not enough to kill the deserter, it did not appear they were even enough to put him out of action.
"Ren, this is why I am the General, since you are not having any luck with the scavenger I think that maybe threatening her friends may finally get some answers from her." Hux said barely containing the smug smile on his face. "And, rest assured Ren, you will have your pleasure in killing them ALL after we are done with them." Hux said happily. Kylo was not convinced and was about to voice his concerns when a tech nearby called for Hux.
Poe made a dangerous manoeuvre to dodge some red beams of light. Poe was concerned that the First order were still shooting at them, he was beginning to doubt his plan and was contemplating whether to go back into light speed. Then the control panel went dead. A smile graced Poe's features as he turned to look behind him. BB-8 was beeping in a concerned manner.
"You know what to do BeeBee-Eight, you need to hide and when the ship has been cleared you need to find the cooking droids." The droid beeped again, he sounded uncertain, that was for sure. "You will be fine; you just need to go hide … now." The droid looked at his master for another few seconds before retreating into the ship. Poe turned to look at Finn. "No going back now, buddy." Poe said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I guess so." Finn said darkly. They were being brought deeper and deeper into the hull of the Finalizer. Poe sat back in his seat and put his hands behind his head, in an almost lazy manner.
(===||===)
Rey assumed that there would be no interrogation today. With the appearance of the Y-Wing she assumed Ren would be busy torturing the new prisoners, so she was surprised when the doors swung open to reveal a ginger haired man wearing a black hat that carried the First Order's emblem. He was flanked by four Stormtroopers.
"What-" Rey began to speak but she was cut off.
"Grab her." The General said in a commanding tone. Rey frowned and tried kicking at the white armoured, faceless troops.
"Hey! Get off me!" She kicked and scratched … all thoughts of the Force forgotten as she instinctively went back to her tried and tested ways of surviving.
Two Stormtroopers grabbed her and held their blasters to her arms and another one pointed one to her head. The General walked ahead of them.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked in as strong a voice as she could muster.
"You'll see." The General replied blankly.
They walked down many corridors, Rey tried to map out where she was going but she soon lost track of the right turns and the left turns as they all melted into one long journey. Eventually they entered a long corridor which resembled the old Imperial design. They marched forward, by a door stood Kylo Ren, he had his hand clasped around his lightsaber. Rey looked at him imploringly and even tried to reach out to him with the force, but to no avail. They were just outside the door now. Rey could feel a ball of anxiety steadily begin to grow inside her. The General turned to face her and gave a small smirk as he turned back to the door. He placed his hand on the key pad and the doors flew open. He and Ren walking into the brightly lit room.
She felt her stomach drop. Inside the room were Finn and another man, someone that she assumed was Poe. They were kneeling on the ground with their hands bound.
"Rey!" Finn cried as he tried to get up but a Stormtrooper behind him kicked him back down. One white armoured figure stood behind Finn and another one behind Poe. Rey watched, she could feel terror begin to cloud her vision.
"Now, Rey." She heard the voice in her ear, it made her skin prickle. "The map." As she watched the two Stormtroopers held their blasters to her friend's heads. She looked at Finn's face as it melded into one of terror and Poe just knelt there, looking at Finn.
"The map, or your friends die."
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I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I hope you all had a good week, at school or not at school, and if you're sick (lots of it about) I hope you get better soon.
Thank you all for tuning in this week and until next time, bye!
Days until Rogue One: 299 days
Days until Episode VIII: 662 days