«Kylo Ren»
Footsteps approached me from behind, echoing throughout the star destroyer bridge as I stood my ground, watching the screens and control switches in front of me. By the sound of it, whoever was approaching me seemed hesitant as if they brought bad news.
"Sir," lieutenant Mitaka's shaky voice croaked out. "We were unable to acquire the droid on Jakku." My masked head angled towards the lieutenant slightly, but no words escaped my lips. Although he could not see my facial expressions, he must've known that behind my mask, a glare was glued to my face. Mitaka gulped before continuing. "It escaped capture aboard a stolen Corellian YT model freighter."
This time, I turned to face the man who took a small step back. "A droid," I began slowly. "Stole a freighter?"
"Not exactly, sir," he stuttered out. "It had help." Every moment I spent silent made the lieutenant more nervous. "We have no confirmation, but we believe FN-2187 may have been helped in the escape--"
Anger bubbled up inside me with each word he spoke, and I cut Mitaka off by igniting my blood red lightsaber. I quickly struck on control console in front of me with my weapon, repetitively causing damage to everything around me. Groans escaped my lips as I let out my rage, flaming scars from my lightsaber leaving indents in the console. My teeth were clenched together as I backed away while sucking in sharp breaths. "Anything else?" I growled out.
"The two were accompanied by a girl." As soon as those words met my ears, I reached out a gloved hand and violently pulled lieutenant Mitaka towards me so that I had him in a choke hold.
"What girl?" My low voice asked.
Mitaka was quick to respond, trying to save himself from my grasp. "A scavenger from Jakku. She got away, but we managed to find her dwelling with the help of a Jakku resident and took a prisoner."
"A prisoner?" I questioned. "Who?"
«»«»«»«»
With swift movements, I made my way through the hallways of the large ship towards the detention block. Mitaka had not told me much about the prisoner, for I immediately pushed past him once he informed me of the prisoners whereabouts.
When I made it to the detention block, I found the room of the prisoner and forced it open with a simple kick of the door. Inside, General Hux stood leaning over someone. Because of Hux, I could not yet see who he was interrogating.
"Where is the droid?" Hux growled, and suddenly I heard the cry of a child. Quickly, I pushed past Hux to find a small girl pressed against the wall in fear. The General had a strong grip on the child's wrist as she screamed out in fear. "You know the scavenger and the droid. Where are they going?!" He yelled in a demanding tone.
Despite the interrogation of Hux, the girl continued to cry out, not giving any answers.
"General Hux," I said, startling him. "Go to the bridge."
Hux turned towards me, an angry expression on his face. "Sir, I must insist that I stay here," he said. "This child is the only source of information we have as of right now."
"Go to the bridge," I commanded once again, this time stepping towards him slightly.
Hux clenched his teeth together. "I will not take orders fr-"
His sentence was cut off as I extended my hand out towards the general, using the force to choke him without even coming in contact with the man's neck. He gasped for the limited air he could get, bringing his pale hands to his neck in an attempt to free himself. I swung my arm to the right, causing Hux to go flying towards the wall.
"I'll be at the bridge, sir," he stuttered out while trying to catch his breath.
As soon as I turned back the the child, she scrambled away towards the corner of the room. Small cries still escaped her trembling lips, and I began to step towards her. Every step closer I got to her, she cried out a little louder in fear.
Finally, I knelt down in front of her. "It's okay," I said through my mask, but the girl still tried to get as far away from me as possible. I reached out my hand, but she quickly swatted it away before curling back up. "No! Leave me alone!" She sobbed out as tears rolled down her cheeks. She must've assumed that I would do to her as I did to Hux when I reached out my hand.
The two of us made brief eye contact for a moment, and I saw the pure fear in the little girl's eyes. Finally, it occurred to me that for a child, seeing a man in a dark suit and mask after being interrogated by another man would be terrifying. With slow movements, I placed my hands on both sides of my black helmet and removed it, revealing my face to the girl.
She slowly glanced back at me, her sobs ceasing for a moment as she looked at me. "I'm just a person," I told her. "Just like you." I placed the helmet on the ground and slid it away from me. "No mask, just me."
She continued to cry, but not as loudly. "I'm Ben," I said as kindly as I could. Considering the fact that Hux's strategy of demanding only made the girl cry, I decided to take a different approach. "Can you tell me your name?" The child glanced up at me with tear streaked cheeks and shook her head. "Just your name. I just want to know your name."
Hesitantly, she whimpered out, "Kylie."
"I'm not going to hurt you," I told her. "Just talk to me."
A small silence lingered between the two of us until she finally spoke up again. "I want to go home." Her voice was a soft stutter as she croaked out those words.
"Where is home?" I asked, trying to get information out of her.
"Jakku," she replied. "With Rey."
Instantly, I thought of the girl Mitaka had mentioned who had accompanied the droid. "Who's Rey?" I asked curiously while trying to keep my patience.
"She takes care of me." Kylie wiped a tear from her cheek and sniffed. "Ever since my parents died on Jakku, she's been the only family I've had."
I nodded, planning out my next questions carefully. "Where is she headed? We could find her." In order to find the droid, I needed to make the child feel as safe as possible so she would tell me the information I needed when I asked.
"I don't know," she croaked out. "I was waiting for her to get back home when people in white suits and masks came in, destroyed everything, and took me." Her voice started to tremble again, for she must have been thinking about the moment the stormtroopers came barging into her home. "I just want to go home to Rey."
It was in that moment that the child's scared voice took a toll on me. When I sent my troops to Jakku, I had no intentions of them kidnapping a child, for all I wanted was the droid. Now, a little girl was curled up in front of me, terrified of what could happen next.
Slowly, I reached out my right hand towards her. She flinched at first, still nervous before glancing down at my outstretched arm. Kylie's lips parted slightly and she sniffled before extending a shaky hand. She was hesitant, but her hand eventually made contact with mine.
"Come on," I said kindly, helping her stand up.
«»«»«»«»
«Rey»
My fingers fumbled around through the different colored wires and metal panels as I crouched under the grating of the ship. Steam clouded around me, causing coughs to escape my lips. My mind raced between fixing the ship and Kylie.
Finn, who had finally told me his name after that adventurous afternoon, and I had managed to escape the First Order. I piloted the ship while Finn shot down the tie fighters that had been following us. As soon as we were safe, the two of us gathered in the center of the ship and had an exciting moment to ourselves, for neither of us beloved we would make it through the attack. However, something below the ground grates quickly began steaming and an alarm sounded, throwing us off guard.
"It's the motivator," I determined after a few moments. "Grab me a Harris wrench." I jerked my finger towards the storage box. "Check in there." I ducked back down under the grates to continue working.
"How bad is it?" Finn asked while standing above me.
I shook my head in doubt. "If we wanna live, not good."
Finn began to search for the wrench I needed, metal tools rattling as he did so. "They're hunting for us now," he began. "We gotta get out of the system."
I popped my head back up and took the wrench from his hands. "BB-8 said the location of the Resistance Base is "need to know." I began putting the wrench to use, attempting to fix the ship as fast as possible while keeping up with the conversation. "I'm taking you there, I need to know."
Finn tossed me a tool. "This?" He asked as I caught it and disappeared back down again.
I popped up once again. "Pilex driver." Finn began to search for the tool, and I turned my attention to BB-8. "So where's your base?"
Finn clenched his teeth together. "Go on, BB-8, tell her." He then muttered something under his breath that I couldn't make out, but I ignored it.
The droid beeped a response, and I made a shocked face. "The Ileenium system?" I asked. Once again, Finn handed me another tool and I went back to work.
"Yeah, the Ileenium system, that's the one," Finn confirmed. "Get us there as fast as you can."
I nodded in response, trying to process everything that was happening. "I'll drop you two at Ponemah Terminal. I need the bonding tape, hurry!"
Finn's voice became frantic. "What about you?"
"I have to find Kylie and go back to Jakku," I snapped.
It was as if my sentence completely set Finn off, for his voice became frustrated. "Back to Jakk-" he took a moment, breathed in, and calmed himself. "Why does everyone always want to go back to Jakku?"
I ignored his comment and kept my eyes on the tape I needed. "No, that one." I pointed towards the tape that sat on the top of the storage box, but Finn couldn't seem to find what I was looking for. "No, no. The one I'm pointing to." My voice became an angered grumble as I got more and more frustrated. "No, no, no! If we don't patch it up, the propulsion tank will overflow and flood the ship with poisonous gas!"
Finally, BB-8 motioned to the tape I needed, and Finn picked it up. "This?"
"Yes!" I said with an annoyed sigh.
Finn went back to the perilous subject that I tried to avoid. "Hey. Rey. You're a pilot," he began, his voice kind. "You can fly anywhere! Why go back?! You got a family? You got a boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?"
"None of your business, that's why." Finn looked at me with concerning eyes, and I let out a deep breath. "I have to find Kylie. She's only six and I'm the only family she has. They took her. It had to of been them," I said, referring to the first order.
"How could they have known where you lived?" He asked
"There's a lot of snakes on Jakku," I replied, my eyes narrowed. "They'd sell anyone out for extra food portions."
Finn opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, suggesting his hesitation for what he was about to say. "Maybe," he began, lowering his eyes from mine. "Maybe they want her as a bargaining chip for the droid."
My head snapped up, our eyes meeting before the lights above us flickered. Moments later, all the power in the ship shut off, and the two of us looked around frantically. "That can't be good," Finn commented.
"No it can't be," I agreed.
Without wasting another moment, I scrambled to my feet and made my way to the cockpit of the ship. My companion and BB-8 followed closely behind, and we plopped down into the two seats. My eyes scanned the control panel to find nothing working. All the controls were dead.
"Someone's locked onto us," I informed Finn while making every attempt I could to get the power back. "All the controls are overridden." Finn looked outside the ship to look for who had taken control of our ship. "Get off. Get off! See anything?"
It was as if Finn didn't hear my question, for he didn't really and only muttered, "Oh no." He sat back down in his chair, a horrified expression glued to his face. "It's the First Order."
My mind went frantic. "What do we do? There must be-" I was soon cut off by Finn's voice.
"You said poisonous gas?" He asked.
I looked back at him with confusion, wondering what that had anything to do with the current situation. "Yeah, but I fixed that."
"Can you unfix it?" It took me a moment to understand his words and his plans, but as soon as I did, I rushed over to where I had previously been working under the grated floors. The two of us grabbed onto gas masks that hung on the wall, put them on, and quickly jumped down into the open grating area.
"Come on BB-8." I motioned towards Finn and I, and the droid managed to get down under the the grated ground with us.
Once the three of us were down under, Finn closed the grates above us. "Hurry!" He said.
"I'm hurrying," I replied while trying to reverse the work I did earlier.
Suddenly, the doors of the ship opened from above us with a loud mechanic noise, and footsteps echoed from above us. My eyes followed the footsteps above the grates, and I heard a low voice mutter something that sounded like, "We're home."
Confused that whoever entered the ship was not part of the First Order, Finn opened up the grates again and we slowly popped out, our hands in surrender. The man who had spoken before pointed his blaster down at us, his eyes glaring down at us. "Where are the others?" He asked, his voice low and croaky. "Where's the pilot?"
I stared up at the older man in silence, hesitantly responding with, "I'm the pilot."
"You?" He asked. Suddenly, a groaning roar came from behind me, causing my head to snap towards a Wookie who stood with a crossbow.
"No it's true," I reassured the two strangers who seemed to doubt me. "We're the only ones on board."
Finn nudged me with his shoulder. "You can understand that thing?"
The man with the blaster clenched his teeth together in anger. "And 'that thing' can understand you too, so watch it." Finn's eyes widened at the man's threat. "Come on out of there." We quickly followed his orders. "Where'd you get this ship?" He stepped closer to Finn and I.
"Niima outpost." I replied.
"Jakku?" The older man's tone seemed both surprised and outraged. "That junkyard?" He turned to his Wookie friend. "Told 'ya we should've double checked the Western Reaches." Then, his attention went back to me. "Who had it, Ducain?"
I thought for a moment, planning out my response. "I stole it from Unkar Plutt. He stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain."
As soon as I finished my sentence, the man began to speak. "Who stole it from me!" He exclaimed. "Well, you tell him that Han Solo just stole back the Millennium Falcon for good." The man, who claimed to be Han Solo, began to walk off.
I whipped my head around towards him in shock, surprise tugging a smile at the corner of my lips. "This is the Millennium Falcon?" I asked excitedly while walking after him. "You're Han Solo?"
"I used to be," he sighed quietly.
Finn stepped up, slightly confused. "Han Solo? The rebellion general?"
"No the smuggler!" I corrected him.
Finn turned to the Wookie, who must have been Chewie. "Wasn't he a war hero?"
I must have sounded like a child the way I followed Han around with a look of pure joy on my face. This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs."
"Twelve," Han corrected me. "Fourteen." He made his way into the cockpit of the ship, everyone following behind him. "Hey! Some moof-milker put a compressor on the ignition line!" He turned to Finn and I, glaring at the two of us.
"Unkar Plutt did. I thought it was a mistake too, puts too much stress on..." I began, and Han joined me by finishing the sentence with "Hyperdrive."
Han's eyes locked with mine a moment as he studied me. He stood with his hands on his hips, eyes slightly narrowed. "Chewie, throw 'em in a pod, we'll drop them at the nearest inhabited planet."
The smile dropped from my face and I took off after Han, gently grabbing his jacket. "Wait, No!" I said, and he turned back around. "We need your help."
"My help?" Han scoffed.
"This droid has to get to the Resistance base as soon as possible, and the First Order kidnapped my kid," I informed Han and Chewie.
Finn nodded in agreement with me. "He's carrying a map to Luke Skywalker." Han suddenly stopped dead in his tracks as soon as those words escaped Finn's lips. "You are the Han Solo that fought with the Rebellion. You knew him."
Han sucked in a slow, shaky breath as his eyes gazed around the ship. "Yeah, I knew him. I knew Luke."
"Please," I begged, my voice whimpering. "They took my kid, they took Kylie." Tears began to form in the corners of my eyes at the thought of Kylie and how scared she must be. "I don't even know if she's alive, and I need you to help us." My eyes pleaded with Han's with every word that escaped my lips. "We can't do this without you."
"Please."
A/N
Important note: pay attention to where I write in Ben vs. Kylo because it plays a role in the story it's not just me interchanging them randomly.
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