Chapter 11

Kylo Ren stood at the bridge of his Star Destroyer with Banto Ren, fellow dark side user and his second in command for the Knights of Ren, at his side. Banto was a short, stocky human with sandy hair and green eyes, though his mask and armour hid everything but his height. Kylo Ren also wore his mask for the occasion. He was the master of the Knights of Ren, but that did not mean he was above their suspicion. They had been loyal to Snoke before him and most would not hesitate to turn on him if they guessed half the conflict in his heart.

"The knights are assembled as you commanded, Master Kylo," Banto said. "We have scoured the ships and found no unpleasant surprises left behind from the late General Hux. Less than a half dozen officers and troops had to be removed from service in the transition. The First Order is once again stabilized and ready for your instruction."

Kylo nodded. "Good work, Banto. I want a list of planets in our territory that would benefit from a demonstration of our power. We do not want them thinking a change in leadership would make us vulnerable. Next review external threats to the First Order and order a temporary ceasefire with the Resistance, though do continue the surveillance for them."

Banto paused. "A ceasefire with the Resistance?"

Kylo narrowed his eyes at Banto, sending his displeasure through the force so Banto could feel what the mask disguised. "I have discovered another force user among the Resistance. Her potential rivals my own. I plan to recruit her, and I cannot recruit her if she is dead."

Banto turned to him sharply. "This would be the Jedi who killed the late Supreme Leader Snoke?"

"She would be a great asset if turned, and I have seen her succumb to the darkness before," Kylo said, though he knew that Rey would never completely abandon the light anymore than he would completely abandon the dark. They had that in common, being neither all one thing or the other.

Banto continued to face Kylo Ren, then eventually bowed. "I look forward to welcoming her to the Knights of Ren."

"What did you learn of my mask's location, Banto?"

"The tracer indicates it is in Coruscant, and there is a stocked, nondescript ship prepared for you to retrieve it personally, as you requested."

"Thank you. The mask had been with the Resistance on the Millenium Falcon, but they would not have brought the Falcon to Coruscant. You did not see where the mask was prior to Coruscant?"

Banto shook his head. "No, the mask was already in Coruscant when we traced its location. You are going to meet the force user, correct?"

Kylo Ren studied his subordinate, wondering how much he could trust the man next to him. All the Knights of Ren were dark side users of the force, but they varied in how corrupted their hearts had become. Banto was greedy. However, Banto would not betray Kylo Ren while there was nothing to be gained from it, which is why Banto was his second in command. His predictability was an asset.

"That is my purpose. I have reason to suspect she holds affection for me, and so I am courting her as both a Knight of Ren and a man," Kylo Ren explained. This much was true, though he could never own his own attraction to her in front of the knights. He had learned from Hux how quickly those around him would use any attachments he had against him.

"Your father would be proud," Banto said, sending his sick amusement through the force at Kylo Ren.

The next second, Kylo Ren had his lightsaber activated and swinging at Banto's head. Banto blocked Kylo's hit with his own orange lightsaber. Kylo used his larger size and strength to press against the smaller man, turning his lightsaber's guard in the same moment to pierce Banto, but was shoved back slightly with a force shove. Kylo Ren used his own force to flip Banto face-first into the floor and rip off Banto's mask. He put a knee in Banto's back and held his lightsaber close enough to singe Banto's neck. Banto deactivated his lightsaber.

"You were saying?" Kylo Ren spat, but Banto smiled a wicked grin and started chuckling.

"There's the ruthless Kylo Ren I know. I heard you had ordered clothes and an untraceable credit chip with thousands of credits on it for this female Jedi. I was worried you had gone soft."

Kylo Ren glared at Banto a few moments before deactivating his own lightsaber and standing up, but he did not put it away. "She will have less reason to pawn the mask if she is well funded, which allows me to continue tracing her physical location."

"And the clothes?" Banto asked as he pulled himself to his feet and collected his own mask.

Kylo Ren had thought up a valid excuse for this indulgence while he ordered them late in the night. "My role to court her will be more convincing if I find her physically attractive." He did not volunteer that Rey could have worn a paper sack and he would still find her attractive.

Banto chuckled at his excuse. "Ah, well if she must be dressed up to be tolerable, I suppose I should be thankful that you're the one she has eyes on. Still, I am surprised. Do you even know how to court a lady? You have avoided the advances of every creature I have seen you around."

Kylo Ren glared at him once more and left the bridge without another word. Banto had grown cheeky during Kylo's absence from their group. He would have to plan a demonstration within the knights to keep them in order as well. He suspected that Banto was not the only one who doubted his leadership.

Kylo returned to his room, where he found a cage and food for Growlie left outside. He picked them up, entered his room, and found Growlie building a nest in his bed using papers from his desk. Kylo sighed, gently picked up the porg, and placed him in the cage on his bed. "We're going on a trip, Growlie," he said. He took off his mask, stretched, and curled up in his bed next to where Rey had appeared the night before.

"Rey," he mumbled, willing the force to connect them. He had not told her yet that he was coming or why, and she deserved a warning.

"Ben?" he heard as the force connected them. She appeared right next to him, sitting on the edge of his bed, and he wondered if she were sitting on her bed with him on top of it, or if he just appeared floating in the air behind her.

He leaned on his elbow, looking up at her. "I need to come to you," he said.

"I thought we agreed it wasn't safe," Rey said.

"We can safely meet somewhere neutral and away from our forces. Coruscant, perhaps?" he said, and he smirked at the disturbed shock on her face. "My armour, including the mask, has built-in tracers should I ever need to be found on the battlefield. It's how Hux retrieved me from Starkiller Base before it exploded."

Rey sucked in a deep breath. "You know where the Resistance is?"

"I do not. I had not planned to track you when I left my mask with you, and you were already on Coruscant when I decided to learn your location. Unless the Resistance has greatly changed habits, they avoid core worlds while gathering resources, so I expect you're alone. However, you and I will need to spend time together in person to fulfill our bargain. The Knights of Ren will hunt us both down if they suspect the bond existed prior to Snoke's demise. It's too much evidence that we were a team against Snoke. We will have to spend time together and pretend that it is a new development, possibly while searching through the library on Coruscant for records of the Sith and Jedi."

Rey's eyes widened at him. "But you're their Supreme Leader," she said.

Kylo sat up and faced away from her, reluctant to see her disappointment in his world even as he felt it himself. "I am their Supreme Leader, and Snoke was mine. Loyalty is in short supply in the First Order."

He heard Rey adjust behind him. He wondered if she were leaving, but instead he felt her lean back-to-back against him with her head on his shoulder blade. Her hair mingled with his own at his neck, and he took a deep breath as he embraced the peculiar sensation. "You're supposed to be trying to recruit me, not scare me away," she said, and her words vibrated against him.

"I would not deceive you," he said, wishing he could turn and face her without risking losing the comforting position. "I have told them your potential and claimed that is why I will recruit you. I also told them that you… have a special regard for me that makes you more susceptible to me, and that I am courting you solely to take advantage of it while trying to lure you to the dark side."

Rey went very still against his back, and Kylo struggled to breathe while waiting for her response.

"You need a reason to keep me exclusive to you so they stay away," she said.

He exhaled and relief filled him that she knew what he meant. "Yes. It will also justify your comfort in holding my hand, as well as my allowing you to do so, in the presence of the First Order. I fear that If they suspect my true regard for you, that they will use you against me as Hux had intended."

They stayed like that a moment, and Kylo felt fear pool as he realized she had never agreed to follow along with his plan. "Would acting that role be difficult for you?" he asked. She shook her head slowly against his back, and he felt a knot loosen in his chest. "Thank you."

"Thank you for the clothing and the credit chip. The others were quite relieved I could afford to rent my own room so they wouldn't have to worry about waking up to you."

"The others?" Kylo asked.

"Oh, yea," Rey said and adjusted her position so she was sitting next to him on the bed, but leaning against something that was probably a wall in her room. "I didn't come here alone. I have Finn, Poe, and Rose with me. They decided it was too dangerous to have me near the majority of the Resistance, but they couldn't get to know you according to our agreement if I was isolated, so they came with me to Coruscant. They were expecting to see you through our force bond, so don't be surprised if they're rather shocked to find you in person." She raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a suspicious look. "You're not allowed to kill them, you know, even if they try to attack you. Poe and Finn said you had stopped a blaster bolt mid-shot the last time Poe tried to shoot you, so don't pretend you can't defend yourself without hurting them."

Kylo Ren sighed. He had hoped to get Rey to himself, but all the same, he was relieved that her friends hadn't completely abandoned her. "I promise not to kill your friends no matter how annoying or aggressive they are."

Rey grinned broadly at him, then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks. I'll see you soon," she said. The force connection ended, and Kylo Ren was left staring dumbly at where she had been.


For the record, I hate adding original characters to a fanfiction, but I didn't see any information about who the knights were, so I made up Banto. For those who read my other Reylo Fanfiction, The Force Likes Reylo, I decided not to include Marx Junko in this one, though he was the Knight of Ren OC in that story.

Thank you everyone who has reviewed my story so far. Please continue letting me know what you think, whether you love it, hate it, have suggestions, etc. This chapter wasn't as much fun for me, but I felt skipping it would be too much. Still, I'm always looking for ways to improve, so please let me know what you think.