"Commander."
Kylo Ren turned his gaze to Captain Phasma, looking away from the screens. "Yes?" Even after so long, the sound of his voice so distorted and twisted surprised him.
"The scouts we sent out three weeks ago have returned," she informed him.
He briefly wondered what her real voice sounded like. "And?"
"They spotted activity on D'Qar," she replied, and his heart dropped out of his chest. "Like you instructed, they did not make surface contact, but recognised a few x-wings amongst the trees."
Kylo swallowed, turning to the Captain. "Tell me, Captain," he began, trying to sound confident, "Is D'Qar inhabited?"
"N-not anymore, sir." Everyone knew that.
"Exactly." Kylo turned back to the screens. "The rebels will not have set up base there. With no civilians to buy supplies from, they'd starve. You probably saw scouts of their own."
"Everyone knows the rebels are in no condition to be sending out scouts," General Hux snapped, "and our scouts have never been wrong before—"
"Even the most skilled people," Kylo interrupted with deadly calm, "can make mistakes. Even you, General, are capable of making a mistake. A very, very dangerous one." He faced the man, the light of the holographic screens reflecting off his helmet.
Hux swallowed and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Send scouts to the desert planets," he ordered, "Jakku and Tatooine. The scavenger was from one, their Jedi master from the other. Nostalgia may have brought them there."
"Yes, sir." Phasma turned and marched away, ridiculously obedient. Anyone could see it was a stupid idea.
If Rey had been in her place, she would have argued. And if that hadn't worked, she would have smacked some sense into him. Kylo was glad the helmet hid the smile tugging at his lips.
And then he swatted the thought away. No. He mustn't think of her, of her eyes, her voice, her smile...
Ren. The voice startled him, and he jolted out of his seat.
Y-yes, Supreme Leader?
Come to my chambers. I wish to speak with you.
Oh kriff, oh kriff. Yes, master.
***
Kylo Ren collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. He clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to find some kind of strength in his fingers, pulling his elbows underneath him. His helmet fell with a clang as the Supreme Leader withdrew from his mind.
I am disappointed. A surge of power, and he was thrown onto his back, his head hitting the floor so hard he saw stars.
You know what your mission is. He was flung into the wall, his shoulder slamming straight into it with a crack. Pain lanced up his side.
And yet...Kylo crumpled to the floor, holding his arm. ...you showed her mercy.
"I," He staggered to his feet, "deeply apologise. I have failed you, Master."
That you have. Kylo hit the floor again, splitting his lip and causing it to bleed. I assume you had your reasons, boy. Explain.
"I was only," Kylo gasped, pushing himself onto his knees, "going to give them a short while. I never intended to stop monitoring their activities either." Swallowing, his kept his eyes trained on the red floor. "A war in which the enemy simply rolls over is no war at all."
Wrong, the Supreme Leader snarled, and Kylo was suddenly pinned to the floor, wave after wave of power washing over him. A war in which the enemy simply rolls over is a quick war. A victorious war.
"I will not fail you again, Master," Kylo yelled over the sound of blood pounding in his ears.
You most certainly will not, agreed the Supreme Leader, and Kylo was released, gasping. Find the girl. Bring her back to me. Turn her, or else kill her.
Kylo nodded, swallowing, and touched his forehead to the floor. It didn't matter anymore. Her eyes and her smile were nothing. He pushed aside all emotion and thoughts with a strength he didn't know he had.
He'd do what he was told to. Because those were his orders. And that was his mission.
***
It wasn't long before the First Order "found" them.
Rey laughed bitterly to herself as desperate evacuation attempts continued, with people loading into escape pods, crammed to the brim with cargo, and heading towards the already airborne command ship.
Rey was already on the command ship, along with Finn and Poe, busy moving the supplies from the pods into the storage areas. They were running out of time—just under half their ammunition was still down on D'Qar, and the remaining people would have to evacuate soon to escape in time. The only question now was; how much would they have to leave behind?
The answer arrived far too quickly in the form of star destroyers appearing out of lightspeed just outside the atmosphere. Some people around Rey screamed, but quickly stifled their cries. Rey gritted her teeth as the command ship came into view, but it wasn't as worrying as the Dreadnought star destroyer that accompanied it, cannons priming. Behind her, Leia and her top officers worked frantically to find a safe base to escape to. From what she could hear, their primary option was Crait. Pilots desperately set a course, staring up at the star destroyer and mouthing what might have been prayers.
This is your fault.
You didn't even warn them. He said he wouldn't tell, and you believed him. So naïve. So stupid.
Rey pushed the negative thoughts away. She needed to focus. Poe had stepped away and was now speaking rapidly to the General, who looked somewhat incredulous. She began shaking her head, but Poe kept talking, mouth moving rapidly. Eventually, he must have convinced her, because he ran off to god-knows-where.
Worry only began to coil in her gut when Leia moved to the controls and turned on the intercom, watching a very familiar Black Squad x-wing speed, alone, towards the Order command ship.
"What is he doing?" Rey asked, suddenly nervous.
Leia sighed. "Something very stupid."
BB-8 clearly shared her feelings, beeping skeptically over the comm. Poe shushed him.
"Happy beeps here, buddy, come on," the commander said, "we've pulled crazier stunts than this."
"Just for the record, Commander Dameron," Leia sighed again, "I'm with the droid on this one."
"Thank you for your support, General."
"Oh god," Finn breathed, "what's he going to do?"
"Happy beeps," Poe repeated, although it sounded more of a self-reminder. Then, the buzz and crackle of his radio turning on could be heard. "Attention! This is Commander Poe Dameron of the Resistance fleet. I have an urgent communique for General Hugs."
Beside Rey, Finn let out something that might have been a choked laugh. Rey stifled a smile at the intended mispronunciation.
"This is General Hux of the First Order." A scornful voice replied, "The Republic is no more. Your fleet are rebel scum and war criminals. Tell your precious princess that there will be no terms, there will be no surrender!"
A slightly awkward silence followed the drawled speech, and then Poe piped up.
"Hi, I'm holding for General Hugs."
Rey couldn't help herself then, letting out a strangled splutter. A small grin was present on Leia's face, and Finn was stifling snorts of laughter.
"This is Hux," the Order general replied sharply, "you and your friends are doomed. We will wipe your filth from the galaxy!"
There was a brief pause. And then, "Okay, I'll hold."
Most people in the control room were beginning to snicker. Poe really was something else.
"Hello?" General Hux said, beginning to sound a bit uncertain.
"Hello? Yup, I'm still here," Poe responded, and Leia shook her head exasperatedly.
"Can you—can he hear me?" Hux growled, presumably to a pilot.
A mumbled affirmation could be heard in the background. Rey wondered for about the millionth time what Poe was trying to do.
The aforementioned pilot wasn't done. "Hugs? With an 'H'? Skinny guy. Kinda pasty."
"Well, he's not wrong," Finn whispered.
There was a brief crackling noise at the other end. "I can hear you. Can you hear me?" Hux snapped, sounding increasingly irritated.
Another pause, and then Poe said, "Look, I can't hold forever."
At his words, the other pilots in the room promptly left for the hangar, apparently informed of Poe's plan.
"If you reach him," Poe continued, "tell him Leia has an urgent message for him."
Leia looked surprised. "I do?"
"About his mother."
"Open fire!"
"BB-8, punch it!"
The surface cannons of the command ship began priming just as the main engine on Poe's x-wing roared to life, sending the starfighter rocketing forward at breakneck speed. BB-8 beeped anxiously over the comm.
Rey tracked Poe's flight with her eyes and felt disbelief slowly dawn on her.
"He's heading for the Dreadnought," she said incredulously.
"He's insane," Finn muttered, staring at the window.
***
"Wahoo! That's got a kick," Poe yelled as he shot towards the Dreadnought.
As he neared the star destroyer, he gripped the yoke and dipped into a dive, skimming along the smooth surface of the ship. The first surface cannon appeared on his targeting screen, and he laughed as he took it out.
"Alright, taking out the cannons now."
Poe continued his attack, speeding easily across the star destroyer and clearing out the surface cannons. His targeting system focused on the last one.
"There's one cannon left," he said into the comm, "and here comes the parade."
Behind him, BB-8 beeped frantically as a squadron of TIEs appeared, guns blazing.
"Yeah, yeah, I see them!" Poe shouted, banking hard to avoid enemy fire. Another blast to the flank sent him veering dangerously to the side. "No, no, no! Dammit! BB-8, my weapon systems are down! We gotta take out that last cannon or our fleet is toast. Work your magic, buddy."
Within minutes, the little droid had his weapons working again. Poe grinned to himself as he destroyed the final cannon. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Dreadnought fire on the now empty base, with the last pod catching up with the command ship.
"You did it, Poe," Leia said over the comm, sounding dazed, "now get back here so we can get out of this place."
"Copy that, General," Poe said, grinning, "coming back now."
A large part of him protested, telling him that he should take the chance, the chance to tale out a Dreadnought. But he suppressed the thought. The Resistance was running on fumes, and he needed to pick his battles. He turned his starfighter around.
And when he hopped out of his x-wing, people were cheering his name.
***
Four months later.
Kylo Ren did not regret the decision he'd made those months ago, kneeling in Snoke's chambers.
But he did not expect the plethora of...emotion welling up in his chest as he watched his father's dice disappear in his hand, the gold flashing one last time in the pale light of Crait.
He did not expect the pang of longing as he met Rey's eyes, half a mountain away, standing at the top of the ramp of her ship.
He did not expect the jolt of sadness and pain as the ramp slammed shut, as the Resistance fled.
He did not expect the stinging in his eyes as he folded his fingers in on his empty palm.
***
Rey felt the sharp pain flicker briefly over her bond with Kylo before he tamped down on it, and suddenly tasted regret like blood on her tongue. She swallowed, pushing away doubt. Behind her, Leia was setting a course for some jungle moon a couple of jumps away. Poe was grinning and Finn was laughing. She had everything she needed. A smile worked its way onto her face as she turned away from the window.
She'd saved them. Everything was okay.
A/N
So I rushed through The Last Jedi because I'm in a hurry to fix the Rise of Skywalker and also because so many people disliked this movie and I don't have the energy to make this a tlj fix-it too. I did fix the scene with Poe though. You thought I was gonna do it? Nope, I'm not doing that to my favourite character.
Anyway, I'll do my best to update more regularly. Love you all!