Star Wars Ep VIII : The New Empire

Chapter 14: Outsider

Kylo Ren had left Zephus in his command shuttle immediately upon making it back to his hideout on his other flash speeder. The ship wasn't very large, but certainly large enough to make it difficult for a solitary person to manage. It was designed as a transport shuttle, intended for short bursts of travel over limited distances.

Thus, Kylo was forced to stop off on planets every few days to fill up the fuel tank, which frustrated him. While on these planets, he wore a scarf over his nose and mouth as well as his hooded cloak, just as he had when he went into the towns on Zephus. He needed to keep from potentially being recognized by a member of the First Order or one of its many spies.

Kylo had wanted to get as far away from Zephus as soon as possible; he'd felt Luke's presence on Zephus as soon as he'd arrived, and he knew it was possible that Rey had, too, so he'd forged a Force field around the general vicinity of the forest surrounding the house, so that Luke wouldn't be able to sense her presence anymore, and vice versa.

He felt a sudden flash of anger as he remembered the pilot holding Rey, consoling her. And the pilot had been more than happy to assuage her, of that Kylo had no doubt; he hadn't needed to read to the man's mind to know how he felt for her. It made him sick just thinking about it. How could a mere pilot think himself worthy of someone so strong in the Force?

Just over a month ago, while purchasing fuel for his ship, he'd overheard a man speaking to another about a new Senate that had been formed within the Order of Organa. Kylo had listened with keen interest as he'd heard that Rey had been elected Senator of the Azalea system. He'd had—still had—mixed feelings about this: he thought that Rey's talent with the Force was clearly being squandered, grossly so, but at least this would keep her out of trouble.

Kylo had also heard word of Leia, who'd been designated as the Chancellor of the new government. He couldn't help but wonder how his mother was, if she was in good health. But it was obvious to him that she had to hate him with a passion now, after the death of Han. If only... he began thinking, but Kylo pushed his feelings aside. He accepted that his mother would never feel compassion for him now.

Nor would Rey, who seemed to so adamantly detest him. It was difficult, frustrating even for Kylo to accept this, but he didn't blame her.

Unclenching his fists, Kylo let out a long embittered breath after reflecting on Rey. He decided to attempt to contact his Knights once again. Surely he had to be within the vicinity of at least one of them by now.

In the front pilot section of the ship, Kylo quickly flipped the communication signal on and off in short, regular bursts, so as to avoid alerting other unwanted craft to his transmission.

He continued this process for several long minutes, until—wait—something was intercepting his signal. He immediately turned his transmission off, but a communication alert was flashing on the communicator screen. An all-too familiar alert. No.

Kylo froze for a moment as his mind raced, sweat beading at his hairline, deciding what to do. There was of course no escape pod from a transport shuttle such as this, so he couldn't leave. Kylo cussed under his breath as he paced back and forth in front of the control board, thinking, his fists clenching at his sides.

Suddenly, a large red shape on his radar caught his attention, and he lept forward to look at the screen more closely. Several smaller red shapes were flagging behind it, all headed directly towards him. Dammit.

Several alarms blared as his ship's engines were abruptly cut up, but he had anticipated this. Kylo could only wait in great trepidation as the large Finalizer came into view through the window ahead, along with several TIE fighters.

As the ships approached, Kylo began to unfold a plan in his mind. He'd aided in designing this ship, so he knew that it had a dormant reserve power storage separate from the main engines. When switched on, this power source could potentially override the hack on his engines and allow him to jump into hyperspeed, if he were quick about it. It wasn't a foolproof plan by any means, but it was the only chance he had.

Kylo froze as his communicator flashed, staring at the blinking red light. Hux, Kylo thought begrudgingly. He stepped forward and turned it on, but the blood drained from his face as it was not General Hux's voice that he heard over the speaker.

"Kylo Ren," a deep and ancient voice growled. "We have searched the galaxy far and wide for you."

Kylo swallowed, his mind racing as he tried to think of something to say. His voice was caught in his throat.

"I had sent General Hux and Phasma to find you, but alas, you had already left your little hideaway. So I decided to come and find you myself. I knew you had weakness, but I didn't expect you to become a traitor. Not after having completed your training. Not after having killed your father," Snoke hissed.

Kylo attempted to flip the communicator off, but even as he did so, the speaker remained on. A surge of adrenaline flared through his body. "I did what was necessary," Kylo stated, trying to keep his voice even, firm.

"Where's the girl?" Snoke inquired, his speech slow, almost casual. "You have not only defected from my leadership, but you have also failed to complete a simple task."

Kylo scowled down at the speaker as if it were Snoke's very face. "I don't have her," he snapped. His breath caught in his throat as he suddenly felt an overwhelming, shrinking power overcome his body, painfully forcing itself into his mind. He shut his eyes, gripping the edge of the control board, straining to keep Snoke out. But Snoke was too powerful; he accessed almost everything in Kylo's mind. Almost everything.

"So you have seen her," Snoke said observantly. "Quite closely, may I add. I see you admire her strength, her power. Among other things."

Kylo hung his head as he held fast against Snoke, blocking him with all of his energy.

"Your defenses are strong, Kylo, but not strong enough. Resistance is futile. I see...Ah, yes. A bond. I see it. It is weak, but...you want it to grow stronger. You do not see the girl as an enemy, no...that is clear."

"Get out," Kylo snapped, breathing heavily and with great effort. He suddenly was hit with memories reaching back to his childhood—Snoke's presence in his mind, speaking to him, persuading him.

"You have compassion for Rey," Snoke continued. "You feel that she is not unlike yourself. You long for her company...growing soft, I see. I've always seen that weakness within you. From your father."

Kylo hissed under his breath, gripping the control board with all of his might. Snoke wasn't going to leave his head, not until his command shuttle was in the loading port of the Finalizer, that much was clear.

Continuing to block Snoke as much as he could, Kylo prepared himself, tried to steady his mind as much as he could. Then, as quickly and with as little forethought as he could, Kylo lept to the side of the control board, activating the reserve power, igniting the engines as he simultaneously yanked back the hyperspeed power lever.

"You traitor!" Snoke's voice crackled over the intercom as the command shuttle lept forward. But just as the ship was about to break into hyperspeed, a stunningly powerful surge of energy shot through at Kylo, knocking him to the ground, leaving him writhing in pain before his mind went completely black.

....

Kylo winced as he blinked awake, taking in his surroundings. He was lying on the floor of the pilot's room in his command shuttle, his head tucked into his chest. He rolled onto his side but sucked in his breath as a jarring pain pounded in his head, feeling incredibly weak.

He attempted to steady his breathing as he pressed a hand against the floor, carefully pushing himself up, and as he slowly sat up, he froze as he realized there was a familiar presence in the air.

He blinked in astonishment as Rey stepped out from around the corner in front of him, her lightsaber ignited before her.