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Kylo Ren screams when he finds the empty prisoner cell, door gaping open and the two guards standing lax before the doorway. I find him seething, saber in hand, having destroyed the restraint rig in the center of the room.
He twists, back hunched, and I click my tongue at the state of the room because I know it will make him see red.
"You need to find her." Ren hisses, his voice some horrible rasp compared to his normal state. "This is an order."
I smile, tipping my head, and he points the saber at me, the red blade hissing and sparking.
"Are you not feeling up to it?" I ask, and then dance backwards as he lunges forwards. "Relax, you overgrown bat. I'm getting there. She cannot have gone far."
"If anyone here is the overgrown bat..." He sheathes his saber with a jerk of his hand, shoulders still hunched. "...it's you."
"Play nice." I say, my expression going serious. Then I turn my back on him, and leave.
She is somewhere inside Starkiller base. I let my senses stretch out, uncoiling the hold on the Force I have. It sniffs about, and then I feel her - she's hiding well.
"Status, Hux?"
"The weapon is warming up. Perhaps for the last time." He pauses, possibly speaking aloud to the people around him. "I cannot hope too hard, unfortunately."
"The girl has escaped. Shall I bring her back to Kylo, or let her scramble back to the Resistance?" I crouch for a moment, pulling pieces of my form into existence. Claws, wings, tiny horns.
"You've found her?"
"It was not hard." I can almost see her like a glowing signature, close by, near the venting area of the base.
"Stall." Hux tells me. "There is perhaps a rescue party coming. Should they attempt to breach the prison room, we may be able to kill two birds with one stone."
"How do you know?"
"The Resistance is a repeating cycle. They would not let one of their only Force-Sensitive members be taken by us for long. They'll come soon."
I prowl forwards, coming into a huge artificial split in the earth. High above, the girl climbs the wall, aiming for a small ledge high above. I admire her strength, crossing my arms.
"I'll keep an eye on her."
"We're powering up the weapon. It needs to charge, but soon it will be ready."
She climbs over the ledge, vanishing above, so I use my wings to follow. She's a hallway ahead, tucked into an alcove, but I'm First Order, so I can simply recline against the wall and pretend to clean my claws.
Her fear tinges the air and the Force, but despite it all, she is remaining strong. She has not cried, she has not given up. She is tenacious.
The Force wavers, but it is not her. It is Ren. I try to sense what he has felt, but all at once his hold on it goes dead silent. He has dropped contact with the Force.
