FADE | Kylo Ren

- chapter four

"Well, she wasn't in hangar 710," Florence announces as she finds Kylo again. She'd searched the hangar thoroughly, hoping that Rey would be there so she could help her escape, but she wasn't there. She finds herself rather disappointed with that. All she hopes is that Rey finds her way out of there, soon. Before the entire base is looking for her. He nods quickly. Another cadet approaches them.

"Sir, she was not found in hangar 718, but all troops are on alert." He informs. Florence sees the fright in his eyes as he speaks to the commander, and she cannot blame him. Anyone delivering bad news to Kylo should be scared. The man is reckless.

"Put every hangar on lockdown, she's going to try to steal a ship to esc-" he stops mid-sentence, glancing over his shoulder. Florence follows his gaze to find nothing. He must've sensed something. "Han Solo." He whispers, objective suddenly changed as he starts walking towards his father instead. Florence throws a glance at the cadet, nodding thankfully for his information, silently telling him to keep looking before she follows her commander.

"If your father is here, the resistance will be too. They're probably here for the scavenger." Florence thinks out loud. Kylo doesn't respond, but she follows him dutifully anyways.

           She's quite surprised when they head outside, out into the snowy landscape of the starkiller base. Florence doesn't have to ask where they're headed, for far away, she spots a ship: a corellian freighter, landed not so gracefully along on the edge of a cliff. Some troopers have already been sent there and have searched it through. "Search clear." One announces as Kylo steps inside, Florence trailing slowly behind him, eyes filled with curiosity.

         "I've been in here before," she announces. "In a dream."

          He looks back at her. "What dream?"

          She crouches down, chewing anxiously on her lip as she pries open a panel on the wall, using much force, she almost falls over when it finally comes off. Kylo watches her carefully. She reaches a hand inside, pulling out a handful of papers, flipping through them with intrigue. "Drawings. Yours, right?" She holds them out to him.

          He walks over to her, taking them out of her hands. He very briefly looks at them before giving them back. "Worthless." Is all he says before he continues further into the ship. Florence looks at the drawings, picking out one in particular that is of the Wookiee and a droid she doesn't recognize, folding it and placing it in her pocket.

         "We're done here," Kylo says, brushing past her with quick steps, heading outside. She follows him back into the base.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Hux has sent out all squadrons to meet with the resistance X-wings that just flooded the planet. Nervously, Florence picks up her blaster from the holster, finger readied on the trigger as she walks with the blaster first, warily making their way through the corridors. She doesn't want to shoot any resistance fighters, but if they're on the base and she runs into them, she'll have to. It'll be just like any other kill, she tells herself. No different than the countless other people you've killed.

           "If you see my father. Shoot him on my command."

           "On your command? Won't he-"

           Like this. He says, voice echoing through Florence's being, in her head. She gasps quietly, and she finds herself nodding once, rather than asking him why the hell he just did that. If he can say things to her like that, chances are he can dig through her memory, her mind. She doesn't understand the force or the limits of it, but she's terrified. Terrified he'll find out about what she told Rey hours earlier. When I tell you to shoot, you shoot.