Kylo Ren stood outside the interrogation room clutching desperately onto the wall for support. Never before had something like that ever happened and he'd broken hundreds of people in that very room before. But no one had ever turned his own interrogating prowess against him. No one had ever invaded his thoughts or ever seen the inner workings of his mind. No one had ever witnessed his own fears. No one.
He had been training to achieve an unbreakable resolve – it had taken years of practice and skill to get this far. How far had he fallen to allow some novice, untrained scavenger to break his concentration? He would never live up to Darth Vader's legacy if he continued to be bested by a girl who was only testing her connection to the Force.
Maybe this grubby scavenger was right. At this rate he would never achieve the standard of his grandfather. He couldn't even drive out the Light Side on his own. Snoke already gave him reproachful looks, as if he was a failure. His connection to the Dark Side was slipping; it didn't matter how heartless he was – the Light Side still called.
No, he scolded himself. Kylo couldn't allow some insolent girl with a limited understanding of the Force to get inside his mind and make him doubt himself. He was strong, he knew he was. Snoke never would have chose Kylo as his apprentice if he wasn't powerful.
Kylo angrily smashed his fist directly into the wall right outside her interrogation room. The metal creaked and bowed under his punch. He was still disgusted by his weak focus, and how easily he'd been diverted from his task.
He had been distracted by her memories of his father. Maybe Snoke had been right, that his ties to his father were still holding him back, keeping him from fully achieving his connection to the Dark Side. Snoke had made it clear that ties to anyone would weaken him, and Kylo was afraid his master could sense the Light Side calling to him. But he had refused to believe Snoke, Kylo didn't see his family as a weakness; they were far away and he hardly thought of them anymore.
But how that scavenger girl – Rey, knew his father was what bemused him. His father had always steered clear of anywhere near the First Order, smugglers avoided political wars and altercations. How Rey had met Han Solo was still uncertain to him.
Just the thought of Rey considering Han Solo a father made Kylo's blood boil. He had seen some of her memories, it had been years since he'd seen his own father, and he couldn't lie, his missed how lighthearted his father was. Him and his father had been thick as thieves, when his father wasn't looking for the Millennium Falcon or working with his smuggler contacts. It seemed like so long ago, but it had been his father's idea to send him off to Luke's makeshift Jedi Academy. Han Solo had planted the seed in his mother's mind, and she had agreed to allow his uncle to train him. His father insisted that he needed to learn the things that only Luke could teach him. What had hurt most was his parents were so willing to send him away; he'd been difficult sometimes – when they had to move to a different New Republic camp – but he'd tried his best to acclimatize always. Maybe he'd let his frustration and anger bleed through too often.
Kylo tried not to let the past agitate him, so he cleared it from his mind. Again his mind wander to Rey, for there was an undeniable truth about Rey: When he was in the same room as her, he felt at peace. The Light Side had stopped whispering to him and the Dark Side did not scream like a banshee in his brain. For many months he had felt as if he was being torn in pieces, and the battle between light and dark that was currently being waged in his mind – he feared it would never cease.
He wanted nothing more than this fight to end, and many times he had asked his grandfather for guidance, but his prayers had fallen on deaf ears, and the war indubitably waged on. Kylo had committed himself to the Dark Side, to Supreme Leader Snoke, yet the Light still called to him.
He did not understand how this Force sensitive girl brought him such peace. She was like a magnet, and now he was drawn to her relaxing aura and balance with the Force. Even in his Jedi training, Kylo had always struggled with his connection to the Dark Side. His anger was something that not even Luke had known how to quell. But this girl and her connection to the Force – it simply balanced him.
Now that he was away from her again, he felt the war within him stirring. Kylo considered barging back in just to bask in the serenity, but he knew it would be inappropriate after he'd just fled the room. But he wanted nothing more than to stare at her sun-kissed skin and her beautiful refined features. Her eyes were like light, emerald glass, with flecks of brown and gray. Though her hair was pulled back, it was still a wispy, lovely chestnut color.
He had spent a long time sitting there, soaking in the details of her appearance and feeling the Force ebbing and swelling within her. He had known before, in the forest on Takodana, that she carried the Force within her. It was that innocent, that unexplored connection he enjoyed sensing. She was strong, he could feel it, but she didn't know it yet.
Kylo knew he had to speak with his master, Supreme Leader Snoke. His master would be expecting an update on the map and he would be surprised to hear about Kylo's discovery. They had both felt a shift in the Force – an awakening, and the Supreme Leader would be pleased to hear he had found the culprit.
Ren headed to the communications room as fast as he could. The sound of his boots against the metal floor resonated down the hall. Stormtroopers averted their eyes as he passed. They were all so afraid of him, with or without the mask. The fear he inflicted on them was something he reveled in. The First Order had brought him so much power and he was far more respected here than he ever had been a Luke's Jedi academy.
Kylo finally entered the communications room, and Supreme Leader Snoke's hologram was already visible. General Hux must have already called the Supreme Leader. That arrogant fool must be at the bridge still, but he was taking his sweet time to arrive.
"Do you have the map," Snoke questioned, his voice was severely agitated.
"No, I don't," Ren replied with a note of frustration. He tried reining his anger back in, but it was always hard when he failed at a task.
That was when General Hux rudely entered the communications room. "He felt the girl was all we needed. He didn't pursue the droid, and I'm sure it's in the Resistance's hands. I think we should use the Superweapon now. We must strike fear into the Republic without hesitation, without the Republic the Resistance will be vulnerable. We should destroy their most important bases and make an example of their actions. We should destroy more than the Hosnian system. We should move to eliminate their important trade routes in the Bothan space system, and then we can move to the Ileenium system."
Snoke leaned back, he was callously calculating their next move, Kylo knew it. His master's eyes contained a deadly gleam to them that the young Dark Lord knew too all too well.
"Ready the base and plan your attack," Snoke declared. He sounded proud of his decision; he must have been pleased to finally land a significant strike against the Resistance.
General Hux bowed, and gave Kylo a smug smirk before he left. That pompous prick would fail Snoke one day, and Kylo couldn't wait to see that day come to fruition.
"Why have you not retrieved the map?" His master said with repugnance.
"The girl has seen the map, but she resisted my methods. She has the Force, and she is stronger than she knows," he retorted.
There was a very small pause as his master leaned closer to him. "Bring the girl to me," he stated with malice in his voice.
"Master, please. Give me a chance to get the map, I won't fail you. Let me prove to you that I can do this," he pleaded. Often times Kylo felt like Snoke doubted his determination and loyalty. He wanted nothing more than to establish himself as a worthy apprentice to his master.
His declaration was met with silence. Kylo feared that his master would punish him for being so outspoken.
"Just get me the map and I want the girl intact," Snoke agreed, reluctantly.
"I will, I promise I wouldn't fail you," he said, gratefully. There was no way he was going to let this girl stop him from obtaining that map.
[A/N]: Thank you so much for taking the time to read my second installment. All of the support has been very overwhelming and I really appreciate it. For those of you who commented last time, I really enjoyed the feedback.
If you could leave a comment on how you think the story is progressing, that would mean the world to me. The next chapter should be done soon, and it will entail a reunion between Rey and Kylo. Also on a small note, I will be extending the time frame in which certain events happened in the movie. Again, thank you for taking the time to read this chapter.