CHAPTER ONE - ACQUISITION

In the glow of the holo projector Kylo was silent, concealed by his helmet.

"The Jakku girl, Rey." The informant began, licking his bottom lip and shifting his feet, "...she has been separated from the Jedi Master."

A tremor of excitement passed down Kylo's spine. 'Finally.'

"The Resistance has placed her in command of a small freighter carrying medical supplies to the Anoat Sector, Allyuen."

"Do you posses the flight details?" Kylo asked flatly. His deep timbre of a voice sounding disinterested as it filtered through his helm.

"Yes, I do, Sir. I'll send them to you now." The man inserted a small disk in his communicator. A star map temporarily replaced the image of the informant, and Kylo drank the sight in, already savoring the taste of his victory.

'It's too easy, too foolish of my old master to part her company so soon.' He thought, with a rise of uncertainty. She couldn't get the better of him this time, it would undo everything he had accomplished; so he studied the map carefully.

The informant continued to speak in his anxiousness, "The Resistance is desperate-"

"You are certain that the girl will be aboard..." Kylo cut off, his tone venomous, "I would hate to be disappointed."

Kylo heard the man swallow uncomfortably. "I assure you my information is accurate in every detail. I've been tasked with co-piloting the craft."

Kylo considered the man and after a short time perceived no lie in his words.

"I will inform Supreme Leader Snoke of your efforts. Await further orders." Kylo Ren ended the transmission.

He made for the senior bridge lieutenant who stood across from him supervising the graveyard crew. The lieutenant stood to attention at his approach and acknowledged him with a questioning "Sir."

"You have control of the bridge," He said. "Do not contact me."

"Yes, Sir." The lieutenant's relief was palpable as he left the bridge.

Kylo's gait was long and purposeful as excitement flooded through him. Snoke would forgive him with the retrieval of the Scavenger, but mostly he was relieved that he would see her again. 'You won't escape me this time.' he thought, drowning out the clang of his boots against the metal grating through the corridors leading to the communication room. This information would lead to her capture, he was sure.

He thought happily about how infuriated General Hux would be in the morning after finding that his spy had failed and that Kylo's had succeeded. After a short while Kylo repressed his feelings of triumph. That would be for later. Now was the time for composure. As he came upon the entrance of the communication room a guard tipped his head respectfully and turned to open the door. Without acknowledging the trooper Kylo swept into the long dark room and promptly knelt before a looming black platform. The door slid closed behind him, encapsulating him in darkness.

Kylo Ren spoke confidently into the emptiness. "My apologies for the interruption at the late hour, Supreme Leader. I have news. Regarding the Jakku girl."

Seconds crept by until silently a blue goliath materialized on the platform.

Snoke was old, and sat bent on a backless and unadorned throne, looming over Kylo Ren in the darkness. Supreme Leader Snoke was scarred and disfigured about the face, skin stretched taut against the planes of his skull, severe eyes loomed out of hooded sockets and his mouth was pulled tight in contemplation.

When he spoke it was slow. His voice deep and ominous. "What news do you bring me, my knight?" Snoke's hologram gestured for Kylo to stand.

Getting smoothly to his feet, Kylo Ren continued. "Moments ago I received intelligence that the girl has been separated from Skywalker." He gave a short pause before continuing, "She is due to captain a freighter to the Outer Rim carrying medical aid to Allyuen."

"You are sure." Snoke pressed, tightening his hold on his throne.

"I am confident that the information is accurate."

"This is a pleasing turn of events. You must go collect her," Snoke mused, "She has only begun her training with Skywalker," The name rolled off of his tongue with distaste. He took a breath. "...she may still be seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."

"I will do as you command, Master." Kylo agreed softly.

"You will… but you are distracted." Snoke leaned down toward Kylo to look better at him, "Perhaps you are unprepared for this task."

Kylo lifted his head to his Master. "The girl has a strong hold on my mind." Kylo confessed. Indeed, the scavenger from Jakku had been an oddity that his mind chased intermediately throughout his adult life. He hadn't been prepared for meeting her, as adversries or ever at all. The feeling of being thrown from her mind haunted him, and the ghost of her light hadn't faded. He could feel her tugging at his consciousness...even in this moment. "When we met, I felt the power of her Light waver my conviction." He was wrought with shame and disgust with himself. "But after receiving your wise guidance, I will not fail."

"She is unusually strong, I have felt her in the Force as well." Quiet stretched for a moment as Snoke touched his fingertips together and pressed them to his lips in thought. "Should you fail to retain her again, I fear it will be the end of you." Snoke paused to allow the weight of his words to settle on Kylo. "If you should succeed, she will become a powerful ally... potentially become more to you, if you find her agreeable."

Kylo Ren remained silent, but his back straightened in his unease as adrenaline pumped wildly through him. He was transparent in his feelings for the girl before his master.

"I know you do." Snoke chuckled darkly. "I may be old, but I am not blind. Remember the words passed to you. Through passion,..."

"I gain strength." Kylo finished quickly. "I remember them well."

"Good. Turn the passion you feel so strongly for the girl into your strength." Snoke advised. "Once you have subdued her, you will bring her to me and we will see what is to be done."

"Yes, Master." Kylo uttered obediently.

"Make the arrangements necessary for her capture. I trust that the young lady from Jakku will become your sole project for the intervening months. Kylo Ren, I don't care how it is done… but she will be drawn over to our way of seeing things." Snoke's final words were dark.

"Yes, Supreme Leader."

"If she resists your efforts, destroy her as you did your father. However tempting, I have no time for lost causes."

Kylo bowed his head. "I understand."

The hologram flickered and was gone.

He turned and left the room, absently contemplating what should be done as his feet carried him away. A squad of Stormtroopers marched past him, giving him a wide berth and a few droids rolled and walked past him in the opposite direction. Before he realized where he was headed he found himself standing in front of his personal quarters. He pressed an ungloved hand to a panel to the right of the door. It slid open to admit him and closed quietly on his heals. He released his helmet and placed it gently in it's resting place. Next he stepped out of his boots and removed his cowl robe and belt before he sunk onto his bed. Kylo closed his eyes and allowed his mind to revolve around Rey.

The girl he had seen so often in his mind, the one who had for so long sat amidst the burning dunes of Jakku, her image began to filter through his mind's eye, blurry at first but then slowly focusing. He could recall every freckle on her face and the exact color of her eyes. He could see the defiant set of her brows and the slope of her lips. The image of her began to morph into motion and she came to life.

Her chin was held high as she looked longingly toward the sky. It had been months now that she had given up on waiting for a long forgotten family that would never come. The day she gave up on them was the day he had begun to see her clearly, due to her sadness he thought. That day she had also become aware of the brilliant light that shone through her, she was no longer singularly occupied with her deep loneliness, and she had became stronger. Tonight, as she looked into the stars he knew she was thinking of him. He could feel her hate and something less recognizable for him. He reached out and traced his bare hand across the scar she had given him. It made him shiver...and she shivered too, she could feel him through the Force. She looked right at him, as though for the first time she could see him clearly. She was crying, he saw. Instinct told him to reach out for her but he restrained the urge and gradually drew away. Kylo thought, not for the first time, that her loneliness was identical to his own.

When the scavenger arrived he would be ready for her.

He slid from his bed and sat alone in his darkened personal quarters allowing the lulling hum of the Finalizer to blanket his senses. Relief played across his strong asymmetrical features and he breathed deeply in the cool air. He looked up at the built-in hutch across from him. What little remained of his Grandfather rested upon a stone expanse horribly twisted and melted, a macabre display.

He reflected on his plan for the Jakku scavenger. The easing of their animosity would take time, yet he felt confident that she would yield to him. There was a connection between them that he'd never experienced before. He was certain she had become more refined in the time that had passed; he'd felt her ghostly presence strengthen slowly since their last meeting. She had begun her formal training as a Jedi he knew. He had also been strengthening his hold on the Force, refining his saber techniques and other abilities with his master. He was nearing the end of his own training.

Kylo slid the pad of his finger across his face along the unfortunate scar again. She wouldn't be so lucky this time. Kylo's mind wouldn't be caught off guard again, and he had fully healed from the wound inflicted by the Wookie. Kylo resigned himself to meditate on the matter of her rehabilitation further. He sank to his knees before his Grandfather's remains and repeated the doctrine that had been passed down to him.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

The Force shall free me."

The words echoed off the walls, off the furnishings and sparse decor. A hollowing silence followed. Kylo took a shaking breath as he looked fretfully into the eyes that had once belonged to Darth Vader. "I will not fail." He swore adamantly.

~)O(~

Shortly after arriving on Ahch-To Rey had confided to Luke her link with Kylo Ren; and was surprised when he smiled knowingly. "This link is not unusual, Rey. Once you have become close to another Force Sensitive being, you retain a part of them, and they, a part of you."

She felt sick, contaminated, when he told her this. "Master Skywalker, that monster and I-"

"Ben."

She was taken aback, "What?"

"My nephew's name is Ben. Monster, you call him...and monster he may become, but there is still light in him."

"I didn't see any light in him when he murdered his father." Rey said, her anger rising.

Luke's features grew sad and there was a long moment before he spoke. "He has concealed it well."

"How can you know there is any light left if he buries it?"

"I've known Ben since he was a young child." Skywalker said, a ghost of nostalgia played in his tone. "You come to know people, given time. I trained Ben in the ways of the Force. I would be lying if I told you he didn't have darkness in him, even then; but he also had a light nearly as blinding as your own… You will become accustomed to him, even able to rebuff him in time. But a day may come where you are thankful for this link." His words from months ago echoed every night in her dreams, despite Skywalker's warning, Rey wished she had learned to shed the touch of Kylo Ren's mind before leaving Ahch-To; but time hadn't allowed it.

The Resistance needed her.

A repetitive beep pulled her from her light dozing. It was the proximity sensor. They weren't due to arrive at the rendezvous coordinates for another day and the ship that triggered the sensor was much too large to be the Resistance Aide Crew. The ship was coming out of hyperspace.

"Jeshi! Wake the crew and prepare for warp!" Rey shouted, shaking the dozing co-pilot awake.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"We need to make a jump, there's a ship exiting hyperspace." Rey explained quickly as she punched coordinates into the computer and flipped the hyperdrive priming switches franticly.

Jeshi looked around in a panic at the levers and controls of the cockpit, eyes darting for a switch. He found the comm switch and quickly flipped it. The intercom came to life and his voice rang through the ship. "All hands to your stations! This is not a drill! Prepare for jump to hyperspace." He repeated the alarm three times.

A huge Capital Ship, emblazoned with the Polygonal crest of the First Order, exited hyperspace to their starboard side. The force of their entry rocked the small freighter. Rey tore to the computer to check the coordinate calculations for the jump to lightspeed. They checked out. She slammed her palm against the primed hyperdrive.

Nothing happened.

"Our hyperdrive is inoperative!" She said, terror flooded her veins.

As she said this, the freighter shuddered and came to a halt. They had them in a tractor beam. Rey reached for her lightsaber and yelled to Jeshi. "Get non-essential crew to the escape pods and send a distress signal. We're being boarded."

Jeshi was pale and unresponsive. "Jeshi!" Rey shook him. He looked up at her sluggishly. "Abandon ship, send the order to man escape pods."

He nodded, then spun around to the console to make the announcement. Rey was flipping off power to unnecessary systems and powering down. She wouldn't let them pull the freighter in without a good fight.

"Rey, they've jammed our communications. I can't send the distress signal."

"Damn it!" Familiar cold tendrils drifted over her consciousness. 'Oh no you don't.' Rey thought bitterly. 'You won't have me this easily.' She fought the sensation of Kylo's mind from her senses.

"Make the announcement, Jeshi. I'm going to the docking bay. I'll buy the crew some time."

Rey didn't wait for his response, she ran from the cockpit and to the docking bay. She wasn't going to let them take the ship without a fight. Jeshi's voice rang out through the ship. 'Non-essential crew to escape pods, fighters to docking bay. We are being boarded.'

"How did they know we were here?" She gasped, flying down the corridors and past fleeing crew. The odds of this encounter were astronomical. 'It was me. He knew because he saw it in my mind.' The thought came unbidden and she felt ill. 'Is that possible?'

She was quickly joined in her run to the docking bay by other Resistance fighters, all armed with blasters and pulling on bits of armor and helmets as they ran. "What's happened?" A voice called from behind.

Rey forgot her internal monologue, she needed to take care of her crew. "We've been compromised, the First Order found us." Rey answered.

The handful of Resistance fighters dashed down the final corridor to the docking bay and began piling the medical crates to act as cover. Rey quickly disabled the automatic docking protocols and disengaged the airlock doors. They would have to blast their way in.

It wasn't long after they piled the crates in their tactical favor that a metallic clunk echoed, announcing the successful linkage of their ship to the boarding party.

Rey's heart was racing. 'This was supposed to be a low-risk mission, if I'm responsible for this…' She couldn't finish that thought.

As the sound of blaster fire issued from the exterior of the airlock and the cold tendrils of Kylo's mind pressed against her again, she could feel him tightening his grip on her mind. "Not today." She said, throwing his presence from her once more...it had been harder this time. She ignited her lightsaber and stepped out in front of her Resistance fighters, determined to protect them. There was a series of more blaster fire and a clank before the doors flew open and a stream of Stormtroopers spilled out into the corridor.

Rey began to deflect their blaster fire but there was soon so much that she was overwhelmed and was forced to duck back to cover with her fighters. Her crew was green; the Resistance hadn't thought they would need seasoned crew for a simple medical aide run. Two of the fighters who had joined her at the docking bay both took shots to the chest and lay motionless on the floor. None of these people were a match for a squad of Stormtroopers in full armor. She was quickly overpowered by their numbers, and three more of her crew had joined the bodies on the floor.

The Stormtroopers were slowly pushing them back down the corridor despite her best effort. She ordered a man on her right to pull the bodies away. He nodded as Rey stepped over a limp body belonging to her fallen crew. She sensed that she wasn't dead. The realization gave her a breath of relief that quickly turned to dread. All semblance of calm disappeared as she realized that they had come for her.

He was behind this. 'Is he on that ship?' She wondered as she parried blaster fire and sent a large medical crate flying toward the invading Stormtroopers. The crate smashed three of the men against the far wall where they lay motionless. More Stormtroopers poured into the bay. Rey turned her head to asses her crew. They were nearly beaten. She couldn't save them at this rate.

"Retreat!" She shouted to her two remaining crew members. She threw her left hand up and using the Force pushed the Stormtroopers off their feet and back several feet. The troopers recovered quickly and regained their ground. 'Maybe I can get on an escape pod and detonate the ship?' she thought wildly. "Retreat!" She yelled again, "To the pods!" Rey threw the troopers back once more and as they lay with the wind knocked from them, Rey and her crew ran headlong down the next corridor to a juncture, As they turned the corner the fighter on her right tripped over the blast door seal. "Keep going!" Rey yelled at the other fighter, who had halted his run. "I've got him." she said as she backtracked and assisted her comrade. However, as she knelt to pull him to his feet a stray blast took her square in the shoulder, knocking her back. Everything went momentarily black.

Rey was vaguely aware of his dark hold on her, he had regained a connection with her and she was unable to fight him off completely. Her head rang and thudded terribly. A tall chrome-clad trooper lifted her from the floor and pressed cuffs around her wrists. Her lightsaber was pulled from her loose grip.

Despite the pounding in her head, she fought to keep a hold on her mind, she wouldn't let him make her unconscious as he had the first time. She grew more aware of her surroundings as his hold loosened. She was being walked from the corridor to the docking bay. Confusion ricocheted through her mind. 'I'm going the wrong way.' she thought dumbly. 'What are they doing?' she thought, alarmed when she saw the limp bodies of her crew being thrown into an airlock enclosure.

"No!" She screamed, throwing Kylo completely from her mind. Terrible clarity dawned on her. Rey scrambled and clawed at the figure who restrained her, but was forced to watch helplessly as her crew was jettisoned through the airlock before something hard collided with the back of her skull and darkness resumed.

...

A camera monitored her movements in the unfaltering dimness. Indistinct shadows cast across the metal floor, walls, and smoothed contours of the secured cell. In one corner a corroded faucet wept a trickle of water into a rounded basin. In the opposite corner a lidless toilet jutted from between alloy studs.

A singular trooper had visited her with food. When he turned to leave, she threw him forward with the Force and dashed from the cell. Disoriented as she was and with her head pounding, he quickly caught her. He threw her against the wall and slapped her so hard across the face that her world spun and she tasted blood. He dragged her back to the cell. The encounter wouldn't have affected her so deeply if it hadn't been for his parting words. "Your crew is dead, and you will be too if you try that again."

Since that incident her only stimulus had been a droid. It pushed gruel through a narrow slot in her cell door and retrieved her used trays. There was no way to be certain that it came at regular intervals and the hum of the engines droned endlessly and devoid of modulation which made time progress unnaturally. There wasn't a sure way of telling how long she'd been held on the vessel, but she guessed it had been some standard days now.

Rey's mind drifted back to Jakku. She thumbed absently at her split and swollen lip, a token of her first night here. The thought of sunlight on her face made her shiver and pull the thin blanket more tightly around herself and consider again what would be done with her.

They would deliver her presently to the First Order, she knew, directly into the waiting hands of Supreme Leader Snoke. Rey shuddered. No, it wouldn't be Snoke that awaited her there. That introduction would be later if she was very unlucky. First she would be greeted by his Knights of Ren. Rey hoped she would be able to pull off another odd defying escape before she had the misfortune of meeting Snoke on his own terms. However if she was kept in a cell much like this aboard the Finalizer she had little hope.

Her trepidation swelled again at her memories on Starkiller Base. Waking restrained to his masked helmet. The sensation of her mind being broken. Feeling his astonishment as she returned the favor. Han run through by that wretched red excuse for a lightsaber. Herself and Finn fleeing from the exploding thermal oscillator compound. Being hunted like small game through the forest. Thrown against a tree, Finn injured and unconscious in the snow, and Kylo Ren looming over him trying to call his Grandfather's lightsaber to him from a snowdrift.

His disbelief and fury when it came to her outstretched hand instead.

They fought ruthlessly in the snow and Rey swallowed at the knowledge that had he been uninjured from Chewbacca's weapon, hadn't been bleeding out, she would have been struck down. She had been lucky and upon her escape from the crumbling base, among her relief and worry for her new friend, she sensed she had not completely escaped him.

The monster was still with her. She could feel the tendrils of his consciousness even now.

She needed to focus and remain calm, meditate, but it was proving much harder than it had been on Ahch-To. With master Skywalker she had been able to ignore the lingering feel of Kylo Ren within her mind, but here in space, in this cell, his presence threatened her. She could feel the pleasure and excitement that had radiated off him at the news of her capture and it only increased in intensity as her time here passed. Rey again fought to clear her mind. She grasped her fear and pushed it from her. She reminded herself forcefully that Kylo Ren was only a man, not altogether the monstrous nightmare she had built him up to be.

She sensed herself more powerful than him in the Force. However ferocious he was.

'Master Skywalker would be disappointed.' Rey thought callously. She adjusted her position, folding her bruised limbs into the correct meditative pose. She focused her thoughts to the hum of the ship. Deep rumbling and whirling encompassing her, coming as cotton to her eardrums. Straightening her spine and breathing in a shaky but deep breath, a calm washed over her. Closing her eyes she repeated the Jedi mantra, as Master Skywalker had taught her, within her mind to center herself in the Force.

'There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.'

Rey could feel the light caress of the Force. She became aware of how it wound itself around her. Through her. It was strong and resonated in her core. Rey reached out for Master Skywalker, searching again for the familiarity of him within the unfathomable vastness of the Universe. She had tried to reach him, to reach anyone during her time here. It would seem she was thwarted, again. No one answered. Master Skywalker was a phantom to her now.

Rey was disappointed with herself. Had the months of training been for nothing?

'Am I worthy?'

With that thought she was seized by a conviction hitherto unknown to her. She wouldn't fail. Not this time.

The strain of her search was becoming visible. Sweat clung to her brow and her veins bulged with each pulse.

Something within her mind tore painfully and a gaping chasm opening before her. There was so much more here than she had ever experienced. It was overwhelming. The chasm threatened to pull her to oblivion but also to disappear with a breath. Rey became aware of a familiar presence in this place. It was him. And he felt her too. Master Skywalker's mind came crashing around her. She could feel the restrained worry and the utter relief flow from him. Life swam back into her. Her breath came easily now.

He spoke lightly. "We were beginning to worry."

Rey teemed with information. Thrusting her memories toward him through the void, only to withdraw herself, eyes stinging and brimming with tears.

Luke considered what she had shown him. His blue eyes calculating. Then he spoke to her.

"Keep heart my padawan, all is not lost. You must guard your feelings of fear, hate, and guilt closely. They make you vulnerable to the Dark Side. The death of your crew does not lay with you and to allow their sacrifice to cloud your judgment would not honor them."

"Yes, Master. There is no emotion, there is peace." Rey choked out. Desperately trying to erase her fear and swallow her guilt.

Skywalker's eyes warmed to her for a moment before, "I am happy to see you unharmed, though I find you are under prepared, despite our efforts, for the path that now lies ahead." He sighed heavily. "They will bring you to the Knights of Ren, they will take you to Snoke. He will attempt to sway you to the Dark Side. You must remain valuable to them without conceding."

Rey trembled at the thought.

"You are strong with the Force, stronger than you believe." Skywalker insisted. "You must vigilantly search for a weakness. Exploit any weakness shown to you by the First Order. This may be a blessing in disguise."

"Master, I was unable to escape capture. I couldn't save my crew. I'm unarmed. How can I to defeat them? To escape?"

"Do not escape." The words struck her.

"Master?"

"You would do well to play into whatever they have planned for you. For the time being. You are not yet trained, you can't hope to overcome them alone. The Resistance will come for you." He paused. "When we found the remains of your freighter…" He was considering his next words.

"When you found my freighter?" She prompted, momentarily distracted from her moral dilemma.

"Your capture wasn't an anomaly." He frowned deeply, and Rey waited for more. "There is no accounting for the precision of the attack, the timing, to make us believe they happened upon you by chance. There is ample evidence pointing to a spy aboard your ship. Your flight plans were divulged to the First Order. Along with your compliment and supplies. " Rey was quiet.

"I do recall a man saying we would rendezvous with the Finalizer." Rey said, hopefully.

"It's a place to start. The General and I will discuss what needs to be done. We can't afford another of my Padawan's to be seduced by the Dark Side."

Rey felt hurt, a pulling sensation. Did he not trust her?

Luke must have felt her distress. "My worry is not a reflection of you, Rey, but of our adversaries. What awaits you in the following days will be dark."

"Master?"

"Ben Solo. He is capable of swaying you from the Light...if you do not guard yourself from him. He is efficient, purposeful, and convincing...unrefined perhaps, but strong. No doubt Snoke has kept him at arm's length in his tutelage as to avoid creating a formidable adversary. The Dark Side is shrouded to me. However I sense that Snoke has reconsidered the danger you pose to him and the First Order...and has advanced Ben's training after the event's on Starkiller Base. You may not be walking into the clutches of an apprentice but a fully realized Sith Lord."

Another pull. But not of unease at her master's words.

Rey felt odd. It hadn't come from Master Skywalker. Her concentration was faltering and Skywalker had noticed the lapse.

"What distracts you?"

"I feel…" Rey searched for the word.

Luke became troubled.

"You must withdraw from the Force. You need to be aware of your immediate surroundings. May the Force be with you."

The connection was severed and he was gone.

Her surroundings came crashing down on her. The constant hum of the engines was gone. The ship had stopped. She stayed folded on her cot, centering herself. If they arrived at the rendezvous point she would soon be handed off to Kylo Ren and she must be calm as Master Skywalker had instructed. It was difficult now, she could feel him, the dark awareness that in recent months had only been like smoke had suddenly thickened to water. He threatened to drown her.

Silence stretched for what felt like hours.

There were footsteps echoing down the corridor beyond her cell. It certainly wasn't the droid she had become accustomed to. Rey opened her eyes. She considered standing but thought better of it. She didn't want to be man-handled the way she had been before. She would cooperate and pose no threat when her cell opened. So she stayed as she was, sitting crossed legged with her palms cupped in one another resting gently on her lap. Rey forced the tension from her neck and back. She repeated the Jedi mantra in her mind again. The footsteps were louder now. Heavy boots falling one after the other, a symphony, coming towards her.

Rey breathed deeply. In. Out. In again. The progression had paused just outside her door. There was the sound of beeping, a code being pressed into a panel. A sharp tone of acceptance. An audible click and hiss from the door as it unlocked.

The cell door withdrew into the wall with a whoosh. A purple film stretched across the new opening and behind the film, which was certainly a shield, was a handful of Stormtroopers lead by the chrome one that had carried her off her destroyed freighter.

"The prisoner will stand." The chrome one ordered. It was a woman's voice, authoritative and cold and distorted through the filter of her helmet.

Rey stood slowly and blinked at her company not daring to speak.

"You will walk five paces and turn around." The armored woman instructed.

Not liking the order at all but determined not to get shot, Rey walked five paces forward and paused. She kept a level stare at the troopers.

Apparently not amused, the lead Stormtrooper lifted her blaster threateningly. "Turn around with your arms behind your back." It was firm and filled with a promise to hurt her badly if she didn't comply promptly.

Rey did as she was ordered and turned around, placing her arms behind her back and grasping her hands together while trying to maintain some dignity.

There was more beeping behind her and a crackle as the shield faded. Stormtroopers entered her cell and one grasped her hands and placed restraints on her wrists. They gave a firm tug to test that the restraints were secure. Two sets of white and black clad arms and hands clutched her by the shoulders and wrists and turned her around to face the exit. The chrome leader tilted her head down the corridor and held her blaster steady. "Forward march, prisoner."

~)o(~

The lambda-class shuttle received docking permission and was shortly held secure with the tractor beam. It was pulled smoothly into an empty hangar aboard the Finalizer. Where his lone black cloaked and helmeted figure served as the shuttle's welcome party.

As the shuttle's wings folded neatly upwards and the landing gear compressed under the weight of the craft Kylo could feel her so strongly. Her feelings had been unusually easy to asses since her capture, her dread and frustration washed over his senses like a tidal wave. The entry ramp slid gracefully away from the hull and touched the black substrate of the hanger. The engines were switched to auxiliary power and the loud thrum faded to a low hum. The lights switched off and a chrome-clad captain exited the shuttle, her cape swinging out behind her as she marched directly to attention before him.

"Sir, we await your orders." Captain Phasma clipped in professional brevity.

"I will escort your troopers and the prisoner to cell block twenty-one. From there you will relinquish your hold of the prisoner to me and return to your usual duties." Kylo informed the captain.

"Yes, sir." Captain Phasma gestured back to a trooper that had come to stand by the entry ramp. He nodded and disappeared into the shuttle. Kylo felt the scavenger's anxiety then. He sympathized with her, she hadn't sought to be caught in this power struggle between the First Order and the Resistance. It happened upon her by chance. He felt some pity for her, but immediately quashed it...pity was a weakness. He watched her being forcefully marched from the shuttle and decided she was undeserving of pity anyway. She kept her head held high despite the rags she had been forced to wear and the bruises that blossomed over her sun-kissed skin.

Although his stare was shielded from her she locked her eyes on him. Kylo was impressed with her outward composure. If he couldn't feel her mind he'd have been fooled. He pressed his mind against hers firmly. The time for gentle caresses had passed, he knew that if he wanted to shut her down quickly he needed to assert himself now. He shared his unyielding resolve to never underestimate her again.

She flinched under the sudden weight of his mind, and her gaze turned quickly from trepidation to hatred. 'Hatred is good.' he thought, 'I can work with that.' Kylo felt her begin to push back, trying to force him from her mind as she had done once before. He had learned that he couldn't give into his curiosity for her, and he redoubled his efforts. A useful memory shimmered brightly before him and he tore at it, forcing it to the forefront of her mind, the memory of her crew being jettisoned from the airlock. The memory was answered by a single tear which escaped her hazel eyes as she turned her face from his. Feeling that he had won their little battle of wills, he withdrew from her as the escorting party reached him.

"Lead on, Captain." Kylo instructed, as he stepped aside and joined the guard.

The scavenger was lead through a route with many twists and turns. She had taken to quickly glancing about with an air of determination that was easy to observe without his ability to read her feelings. Her eyes flitted this way and that, lingering on vents and narrow passageways as they progressed deeper into the ship. She was trying to memorize the route, he realized, and he was glad that he had expressly chosen a convoluted maze to get to their destination. Upon reaching cell block twenty-one, the prisoner watched as he ungloved his right hand and pressed his palm to the reader. The door flew wide after a beep and she was pushed forward into her new cell. Her eyes betrayed her surprise.

"This will do, Captain." As he spoke he slipped his fingers back into the black glove.

"Yes, Sir." The trooper replied.

"Leave her restrained," He corrected the trooper in a bored tone. "I'm not done with her."

"Of coarse." Phasma acquiesced. "Squadron, report to your posts." The Captain commanded. The Stormtroopers filed neatly out of the cell.

"I will call for you if the need arises." He said dismissively. " General Hux is on the bridge, report to him for your debriefing."

"Yes, Sir." The Captain snapped to attention, then turned neatly around and strode from the cell after her squad. The door clapped shut on her heals.

'Now, let's see how much you've grown' He thought.

When he dived into her mind she was hot against his consciousness. He found her lurking fear instantly and pressed against it. Then pain. The sensation sent her to her knees.