Chapter Ten
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Finn's voice wavered. He surveyed the nutrient frame with suspicion.
"Lazara says it will, so I assume that it will," Poe said, regarding the tree-like frame that was built for transporting the ysalamiri. "It doesn't seem like the thing to lie about, if you're going to lie about anything."
They were on board their ship, the Iron Mountain, which was inconspicuous in First Order space. Though Myrkr was far out of First Order control. In fact, it was far out of the control of the New Republic, when it wasn't in ruins. Myrkr had become a forgotten planet. With a small pinch of dread, Poe wondered what would be lurking down on the forested planet.
He knew that vornskrs grew rabid and wild in the forest. They were a type of Force-sensitive, dog-like creature, but four times the size of a man, and four times as mean. The ysalamiri had adapted their Force-blocking power as a means of warding off the vornskrs. There was only one planet that held the ysalamiri, and it could possibly have been the first mission for which Poe actually found himself afraid.
When the Iron Mountain landed, Poe, Finn and two other Resistance fighters left the ship, and set out in search of the lizard-like creatures that stretched nearly three feet from the tip of their tail to the tip of their nose.
Lazara had said that they would know when they reached the Olbio trees, the trees that the ysalamiri would sink their claws into and draw nutrients from. She said that when the forest grew quiet, they would find them.
And find them they did. They peered up at the ancient-looking trees, and beheld branch after branch with nearly camouflaged lizards, whose claws bored into the bark. The transportable nutrient packs they were each outfitted with weighed upwards of twenty pounds, but would carry two ysalamiri per pack. Judging by the trees, there would be enough to bring back to Felucia.
Once Poe climbed one of the trees, he found that the ysalamiri were unusually tame and calm. He coaxed them easily from the branches, but it was the moments after this that were most crucial, according to Lazara. The ysalamiri must take to the nutrient frame quickly, or be returned to the branch. The first ysalamir he tried did not take to the frame, so quickly the animal was returned, and another was picked up. Within the hour, each man had two ysalamiri on their nutrient pack, and headed for the Iron Mountain.
It was when they were unloading the animals onto the permanent structure that Finn looked at Poe ruefully. "That was a little too easy, don't you think?"
"Yes," Poe admitted. His jaw clenched. "But we don't have the time to question it. We've got our orders."
"Quickly," Kylo said to his second in command, the Knight of Ren named Tersius, "and make it believable."
"Kylo, don't make me do this," Tersius pleaded. The man with umber-hued skin and chest-length dreadlocks looked at his commander with remorse.
"That's an order." Kylo was firm in his command.
Without another word, Tersius's fist collided with Kylo's cheekbone, sending him back against the window that overlooked a thousand stars in the blackness of space.
"Kylo Ren, you are under arrest for espionage and crimes against the First Order. You are to be brought before Supreme Leader Snoke where you will await your judgment."
Two other Knights of Ren approached Kylo to put him in manacles, but Kylo raised his arm, and stopped them in their tracks. He had to put on a show for the fifteen storm troopers that stood watching them in the cargo hold of the star destroyer. With the two Knights subdued, Tersius advanced on Kylo again, and drove his fist even harder into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. On the ground, Tersius was able to confiscate the red lightsaber from Kylo.
With his hold on the two knights broken, they were able to pick him up off the floor, each of them getting a blow in, splitting Kylo's lip. When he thought his resistance had looked believable enough, Kylo mustered all the strength of the Dark side he had, and force choked the lot of them. Taking off at a run, Kylo dodged the blaster fire coming from the storm troopers.
When he was securely in his own ship, Kylo tore out of the hangar by immediately jumping into hyperspace, leaving the First Order in chaos, and the Knights of Ren in silent remorse for what they had been made to do.
The base at Felucia was in disarray. X-wing pilots were at the ready, circling the sky above, watching for incoming TIE-fighters. Little did they know that no TIE-fighters would be following Kylo Ren's ship into Felucia's orbit. Less than a minute after Kylo Ren's ship had been given permission to land under the condition of his surrender, a squad of fifty soldiers surrounded the ship with blasters trained on every crevice of the command shuttle.
General Organa had ordered that he be allowed to land, and surrender. Even Admiral Ackbar had given her a second glance, but trusting her judgment, he said nothing to overrule her order.
Doctor Kalonia stood ready for her part in Kylo Ren's surrender. The syringe she had prepared would sedate Kylo Ren for nearly six hours per dose. Without the ysalamiri on the planet yet, the Resistance was vulnerable to Kylo Ren's use of the Force. The decision had been made to sedate him until Poe and his team returned with the animals.
Poe had sent communication to the base relaying all that he knew about the creatures, and Leia had given orders to secure a small number of them. By her calculation, Poe would be back in about 12 hours, at which time, they would relocate their base to a new planet, just in case Kylo had a tracker on his ship.
Leia could not have prepared herself for what she saw when her son Ben stepped off his ship. His face was bruised and battered, bearing several fresh cuts. Besides his fresh bruises, he now had a scar across his face that made Leia tear up. As he walked closer to Leia, who stood waiting for him, she noticed that he was slightly bowed over, and he clutched his arm to his stomach. She would find out soon enough who had beaten him before his surrender.
The entire squadron had their weapons drawn on Kylo. He could deflect one or two blast fires, but not fifty. Several men were sent into the ship to scan it for people or tracking devices. Leia approached her son.
"General, I have come to offer my surrender," Kylo spoke with such detachment an outsider would not have taken him for Leia's son.
Swallowing her emotions, Leia resisted the urge to reach out and grab her son, whom she had not seen in twelve years. She put on the façade of the general, and addressed the man before her.
"Your surrender is accepted," Leia looked him over once more. She could feel his strength. She could feel the Dark side coming off him in waves. "You will understand, but we must sedate you for a time before you can expect your hearing before the council."
Kylo's face tensed. Without a word, he removed his arm braces and lifted his sleeve enough to grant access to his veins. When Doctor Kalonia approached him, he could sense her fear. He resisted the temptation to probe her mind. As the needle was pushed into his vein, he noticed the stretcher that was intended for him. Before the medication had the chance to take effect, he smiled at Leia.
"It's good to see you too, mother."
"Are you sure this will work?" the man's voice asked, distantly, as if in a far-off place in Kylo's mind.
"Yes," the female responded. "I can't feel anything myself. It works."
When his eyes opened, he had to squint against the artificial brightness of the room he was in. His wrists, he soon found, were manacled, and about one ankle was a chain that kept him tethered to a white stone wall. The bed he awoke on was basic, with just a pillow, sheets and a single wool blanket.
After he made an assessment of his physical condition, Kylo searched for the owners of the voices.
Of course, he would find that they belonged to none other than Poe Dameron and Leia Organa. He quickly attempted to shake off his grogginess. Normally, it was fairly easy for Kylo to recover after being knocked out. He could heal through the Force. But now, it wasn't going so smoothly. It must have been a very strong dose of sedative, Kylo concluded.
"Ben," Leia addressed her son, from one side of a glass partition. Her voice was carried through to Kylo's side through a two-way intercom. "Who did this to you? Why have you surrendered?"
Kylo stood from his bed, and shuffled over to the glass. He rested a hand on it, supporting himself.
"I blew my cover," he said with a dry chuckle.
"Your cover?" Leia squinted.
"How do you think your informant got information? Knew when to tell you to change bases?"
"You?" Leia asked, in disbelief.
Kylo nodded, feeling at his split lip. He would have to focus harder to heal himself once the sedative wore off. "Turns out I'm not as good at keeping secrets as I thought. I just barely made it out of the destroyer."
He blinked a few more times, and his vision began to clear. Beside his mother, he could see Poe Dameron, the cocky pilot, in his flight suit, his arms crossed defiantly, his jaw set firmly. His eyes bore into Kylo with a fierceness that he understood completely.
Kylo took a breath and pushed with his mind, attempting to read Poe. Nothing. Kylo shook his head, and leaned closer to the glass.
"You'll get nowhere with that, Ren," Poe said cockily. "See those things, over there?" He nodded towards the tall structure in the corner of the room, on their side of the glass. On it were eight large lizard-like creatures with fur and scales. They were hardly moving, save for their occasional blinking.
Kylo remained silent.
"Our little friends here are going to make it so you can't pull any of your tricks. If you're within thirty feet of even one of them, you're powerless. And when more than one get together? The range is even further."
Leia came forward and placed her fingertips on the glass in front of where Kylo's hand was. "You have to understand that we can't take any chances. Not after what you did, Ben," her eyes glistened with tears, thinking of Han. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be in there, but the council will make you answer for your crimes. Your fate is not in my hands, son."
Kylo's heart began to beat faster. This was not how things were supposed to play out. He expected to be treated with hostility, perhaps even violence, but to be crippled so much was not a part of his plan. He looked at his surroundings. The small room he was in, enclosed by stone and glass would be virtually impossible to escape. The chain about his ankle would not allow him to approach the door, which stood at least six feet away from his limit.
He would have to gain their trust before the creatures in the corner could be taken out of the picture.
"I don't blame you," Kylo forced himself to say. "That is fair."
"Just the same," Leia said, backing out of the room. "I hope for your sake that you can explain everything. And that it satisfies the council." Leia, unable to wear the badge of the diplomat any longer, removed herself from the room, leaving Poe standing before the glass, his arms still crossed in defiance.
The two men stood before each other, sizing the other up. This time the power dynamic was flipped so far upside down, Kylo wasn't sure he would be able to keep up the charade.
Poe approached the glass slowly, and stopped when he was a foot from the partition.
"I'm not buying your shit for a second, Ren," Poe said. "No matter what web of lies you spin for the council, I see right through you."
Kylo remained silent, and smiled to himself. Poe turned and made to walk out the doorway, when Kylo stopped him in his tracks.
"The girl," he said. "She's with Luke, isn't she?"
Poe turned, trying to hide his anger. "Afraid she'll surpass you, Ren? You must be, sporting that scar. And I'm here to make sure that you don't get within ten feet of her ever again."
"You and I both know she won't stay away for long. We're bonded now, you see. She'll seek me out."
"Not with those things near you," he turned and looked at the ysalamiri. Poe took a deep breath, and forced himself to not engage any more with Kylo. He said the words, but even he wasn't convinced. He didn't know what Kylo meant by a bond. As he made his way through the labyrinth of underground tunnels, Poe hoped that he could keep his mind occupied enough that he couldn't dwell on it too long. He hoped that Rey would return soon, that he might put Ren's words behind him.