Salvation To My Stars • Kylo Ren [2]

XXII

Jude's Pov

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Mischief is in the eye of the beholder. It certainly is for Jess Pava. I know what she's going to do before she does, it's all there in her eyes. Though she isn't Black Leader and different from Poe, she was definitely one hell of a pilot. We swirl in the sky flawlessly, slowly coming near the quiet battlefield. The battlefield was dust and dirt, made of asteroids and silence. To the pilots from the Resistance, it felt more like landing on the sun, trapped in their body heat, soaking with sweat.

Suddenly, the sky erupted with tie fighters of many sorts and I suddenly hear Jess curse. "Get ready Jude, it's about to get a little messy."

I thumb a few buttons and take out a tie fighter, watching it explode before my eyes. "That's one down, another billion to go."

Jess chuckled, keeping her eyes on the sky. "I'm going to try and make a run for the hanger doors, get you inside."

"Sounds good." I nod, looking down to make sure my lightsaber was in my reach.

Jess flicked a switch and contacted Poe. "Black Leader, I'm gonna try and get Jude to the hanger, should I follow your lead or will you follow mine?"

Poe responded immediately. "I hear you Jess, take your plan of attack. I'll be right behind you with Rey."

"Copy that."

"Prepare yourself for landing kiddo, I'm not going to be able to stay in the hanger for long." Jess informs me, taking a sharp turn towards the Finalizer and I'm flung into my seat.

"Got it."

She swoops down, taking out as many tie fighters as she can. We fly through ash and fire before we make it to the hanger, Poe lands brutally beside us, his x-wing sparking the runway. I eject from my seat and spring into action, igniting my saber and deflecting incoming blaster shots from stormtroopers.

Rey comes out from Poe and Finn's ship, her green double-sided lightsaber coming to life shortly after mine. The hangar was vast like an endless desert of concrete. Although the air was breathable, it was bitter cold. On the edges, an array of fierce tie fighters lay abandoned. The mesmerising pieces of machinery were enough to catch my eye but I chose to spoke, it would echo through the entire dome.

"We did it," Rey looked down at the stormtroopers and then back at me. "Let's go save Corinthia."

I ran through the list of where she could be in my mind, checking off the ones I had already searched. I gazed around our current surroundings, a few stormtroopers laying around us.

She had to be here.

I was looking for Bellamy but all I saw was Corinthia, then it occurred to me that I could be searching in all the wrong places. Bellamy was with Corinthia. It all made sense now, she had to be with Corinthia. When I searched for Bellamy's presence, I only received Corinthia's beating heart.

"I know where she is, follow me!"

I turned the next corner over, not bothering to see if Rey was still following me since I was basically running. I dash into the Cell Block unit and ignite my saber, slaying the army of stormtroopers firing aimlessly at me. Rey does the same, following me lead.

"Careful," She grabs my arm. "We could be walking into something, it can't be this easy."

"It's only easy because we made it easy." I tell her, pressing my ear against the metal door.

"What do you hear?"

I focus my breathing and my energy on what is behind that door. Only after a few seconds, I hear the muffled voices of my girlfriend and my sister.

"Love is a blindness."

That was Bellamy.

"It is a strength."

And that was Corinthia.

"What do you get out of love?" Bellamy sneers. "It's pathetic."

"You get a family," Corinthia explains. "One day, maybe even children. Children to love and take care of. Love that belongs to the forestry back home, to the cells keeping me alive-"

"I wish I could show you Corinthia, but you always end up hurt. Love betrays, love kills..."

"And love succeeds. You can still be strong and powerful, even more so powerful if you allow yourself to love Bellamy."

"Perhaps-" I heard her utter. "One day I will love."

"Let it in, it's calling to you. I know you feel it, I know you want to love your brother, love whoever you wish."

Someone flashes inside my head, an image of a man, a man that Bellamy is thinking about. "My brother-" Bellamy stops and suddenly the door opens, causing me to stumble forwards.

I catch my balance and stand up, looking at Corinthia. Her blonde hair was a mess and her lively, blue eyes were swollen shut. Her lips were cracked and bloody while her pale skin was bruised blue. "Did you do this to her?"

Bellamy looked at me, her mouth dropping open. She wasn't expecting me, well not this soon at least. In this moment, Rey was able to take in the fact that Bellamy had grown up, really grow up.

"I asked you a question," I clench my jaw. "Did you do this to Corinthia?"

"And what if I did?" She went to reach for her lightsaber. "What will you do about it?"

In that split second between stand off and fighting, I see her eyes flick from me to Corinthia. Our lightsabers glowed in the darkening, prison light. Somehow, I knew that only one of us would walk away from this. She was my opponent now, now that I see Carinthia. She shuffled to the side and awaited in attack. I charged at her with everything I had but she dodged my strike in a last second move. Her menacing eyes were a blazing black and her dark cloak made the rest of her features indistinguishable.

"She didn't do this Jude!" Corinthia called out, noticeably moving towards Rey.

"Yes I did!" Bellamy screamed at me. "I did that, I watched her suffer, I tortured her!"

Bellamy thrusts her lightsaber forward, only to be met by my own. Both sabers clashed against each other and slowly, I noticed Bellamy was weakening. With renewed vigor, I slashed the saber into Bellamy's shoulder and she hissed out in agony.

As she fell to the ground, her transmitter went off. "General Ren, we are sending Kylo Ren to your aid. Keep the intruders busy until then."

Gaping at her wounded shoulder, Bellamy look at us. Corinthia ran into my arms, cowering her strong head into my chest. A single tear ran down Bellamy's cheek as she screamed out once more. "Leave!"

Rey gasped. "What?"

"I said leave!" She flung a stormtrooper blaster at us. "Go before he get's you and breaks you!"

Rey pulls at my sleeve. "We need to go."

"No, not without her" I take a jump towards Bellamy but Rey holds me back. "We can't just leave her! He'll kill her for letting us escape!" But I'm being dragged away from my sister, watching her fall over and shut her eyes.