The ship was quite small. It had benches along the wall where a dozen stormtroopers sat. Ree sat on a bench in the cockpit while Captain Phasma leaned on the pilot's chair, monitoring the pilot's every move. Their destination was an old research facility from the old days of the Empire on the planet of Endor. It was abandoned after the destruction of the second Death Star. They had gotten word of some resistance members trying to hack into the old database which contained sensitive information. "We'll be arriving shortly." Phasma's voice shook Ree out of her paralysed state.
"Uh-huh." Ree rose out of her spot and moved to the back of the ship. All the stormtrooper's looked up at their superior as Ree stood in the door frame. "We'll land on Endor soon, be ready then. We don't know who or how many we will meet there but our mission is to secure the facility and then retract the information from the old database, no matter the cost. The information is highly sensitive and if it falls into the wrong hands, it could lead to the First Order's demise. I myself will make sure that the information is secured and uploaded to the First Order's database." Ree had a dead serious tone and an equally serious expression.
"Going down for landing." The pilot called from the cockpit.
"Hold on tight," Ree said and grabbed one of the handles hanging from the roof of the ship. As they cut through the tree line Ree had to hold on tight as not to fall.
The ship's door was lowered and they were met with a big old building that had been overgrown. One of the stormtroopers placed an explosive at the entrance and quickly ran for cover. Everyone ducked as the explosion went off and then the squadron of stormtroopers moved inside the facility. Everyone scattered in different directions, including Phasma leaving Keelor alone. She decided to go forward, guessing that the control room would be somewhere in the middle of the building.
As Ree moved through the halls she made sure not to trip over any of the roots growing or hit her head in one of the branches. This place was completely neglected, Ree thought. She had opened up the button on her holster so she could easily take out her blaster if needed.
Further down the hall, she heard the sound of buttons being pressed and computers working. Slowly she crept closer to where the sound came from. She peeked around the corner into the room and saw a scrawny man leaning over the computers. "Downloading completed." Said a voice from the computer and the man quickly pulled out a USB from the computer.
"Stop there!" Ree revealed her precense and the frightened man turned around. Quickly he ran out of the room through a back door and Ree followed after. Shit, why didn't I just use the force, Ree mentally slapped herself. She had hesitated like Kylo warned her not to do. She won't do it again, she doesn't want to disappoint Kylo, Ree thought as she ran after the man.
Keelor stopped at a crossing, trying to figure out which way the man took but she didn't get long to think before a hand was over her mouth and an arm around her neck. She figured it was the man from before who attacked her from behind. By twisting and turning she tried to get out of his grip around her neck but to no avail. The oxygen was leaving her body and Ree could feel herself getting dizzier. Ree freed herself by doing a back kick into the man's private parts. He bent over in pain. "Where's the memory stick?!" Ree called and when he didn't answer she kicked him in the stomach and he fell to the ground. "Answer me!" she screamed at him but his silence forced her to use the force to paralyze him. Swiftly she found the memory stick in his chest pocket. "I have a prisoner here. Send someone over who can bring him back to the ship." Ree talked into the intercom in her ear and in less than a minute had a stormtrooper arrive.
Ree released her grip on the man so the stormtrooper could escort him back to the ship. The man struggled against the stormtrooper and when he succeeded in looking back at Ree he yelled, "who are you?!"
"Ree Keelor," Ree answered and returned back to the control room. There she plugged the memory stick into the computer and looked through its content. It contained everything from weather reports to blueprints of mass destruction weapons. Some of it looked to be early designs of what now was the Starkiller base, how long had the First Order been planning Starkiller Base, Ree thought. She placed the memory flash in her utility belt and headed back to the ship.
When she walked through the halls she felt a mysterious precense behind her. She could feel the force telling her someone was there. Instinctively in one swift movement, she brought up her blaster, spun around and fired. A now lifeless body hit the ground and Ree moved closer to the body. The blaster had hit right in the forehead, instantly killing the girl that had been sneaking up on her. The girl looked to be the same age as her and had the orange resistance symbol on her forearm. In the girl's hand, she held a blaster, her finger was on the trigger but Ree figured that she had been faster. If she wouldn't have pulled the trigger that other girl would have done it and instead it would be Ree's lifeless body on the floor. A deed that had to be done, Ree told herself.
"The prisoners, miss Keelor?" Captain Phasma asked as Ree exited the facility and walked up to the ship. The resistance members had been lined up on their knees with their hands tied behind their back in front of the ship.
"I only need that one." Ree pointed at the man who she took the memory stick. Ree proceeded into the ship and a stormtrooper dragged inside the man. from outside the ship, Ree could hear Phasma giving orders.
"On my command." The sound of blasters being fired filled the ship. Ree looked at the man who was now tied to a pipe inside the ship, he was keeping his head down but Ree could still hear his snivels. the sound of blasters stopped and the squadron of stormtroopers and Phasma proceeded to inside the ship.
"Set course for Starkiller Base," Ree commanded.
"Yes, ma'am." The pilot answered and started pushing all kinds of buttons. "Ready to leave on your command, ma'am." Ree nodded in response and the pilot started the engine and soon they were flying through space, back to Starkiller Base.
---
Fendri was scared. After they landed in the hangar two stormtroopers had escorted him to a room. Where they had strapped him to a vertical table and there he had been sitting for what felt like days but was probably closer to a couple of hours. No one had come to check on him or anything, not even a single guard outside the room. "Comfortable, Fendri?." Suddenly a woman appeared in the doorframe, she moved closer to Fendri. The female was wearing a nice officer First Order outfit.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Fendri looked around frightened, trying to find a way out of this thing keeping him strapped down.
"Don't you remember me?" Ree pretended to be hurt, "I'm Ree. You know, the girl you tried to choke to death but instead, you ended up as a prisoner of the First Order." It all came back to Fendri but he still wondered how she knew his name.
"But how do you know my name?" Ree took a seat on a stool opposite of Fendri.
"You're in the criminal records of the First Order. If you steal a tie-fighter and get caught doing it, you're most likely going to end up in the records." Fendri laughed nervously.
"Oh yeah, that time." Fendri looked away like he was remembering a good memory.
"That time you managed to escape, something that you won't do today." Ree rose from her seat and moved into his personal space, Fendri kept his gaze on her. "But maybe, we can strike a deal?"
"A deal?" Fendri looked confused at Ree, normally there wasn't this much talking when you got captured, often it went straight to the torture.
"Yes. You give me all the information I want and then, we'll let you leave." The deal seemed good to be true so Fendri remained silent. "Shall we start then? What were you doing at the research facility?" Ree got no answer. "Was it a tough question? Let me try another one, who sent you?" Still no answer. "Fendri, I'm gonna give you one last chance to answer, because I like you. "what were you gonna do with the information that you would obtain?" This time Fendri answered.
"I'd rather die than tell you anything." Ree sighed at his foolishness.
"Fine. Your decision." Ree raised up her hand, close to Fendri's cheek. She had hoped it wouldn't have come to this. To use the force in this way was physically draining but it had to be done. Slowly a pressure on Fendri's head increased. At first, it felt like a small headache but it quickly evolved into a migraine like no other. It felt like Ree was using her hands to rip his brain in two. Ree was trying to hide the physical toll on her, fixating her look on Fendri so she suddenly wouldn't faint.
"Aaaarrgghh!" Fendri screamed through gritted pain, his highest wish was that it all would stop. Ree's eyes flickered but she fought through it she nearly had all the information she needed.
Finally, she stopped. Fendri's head slammed against the vertical table and he fell unconscious while Ree strode out of the interrogation room, tired but satisfied.
---
"You asked to see me, Supreme Leader?" Ree asked as she walked up to the podium.
"Yes." Snoke waited for Ree to reach the podium, "it's time for your next step to becoming a true user of the dark side of the force."
"Ilum." As Ree uttered the word a shiver ran down her spine.
"Correct. Dreadful climate, so you will have to prepare yourself for it. But the sooner you have it done the sooner will you be able to restore order to the galaxy."
"So it should be done soon?" Ree asked, hoping that he would say no.
"Yes. Let's say in... four days. That should give you enough time to prepare yourself for the ice storms and the constant starvation." Ree swallowed hard, feeling nearly hopeless in succeeding. Although there was one speck of happiness considering Ilum. Ilum meant that she would have to do a lot of training, a lot of training with Kylo.