Let It Burn

How Long Will You Let It Burn?

Kylo Ren's shuttle was full by the time he and Luke Skywalker reached it. They headed for the cockpit and Kylo Ren sank gratefully into the seat.

"What happened to you?" Luke asked as his nephew got them under way.

"It took a lot of power to get to everyone and she had to take some of mine. I expect she's sleeping it off and will be fine soon. Wish I had the luxury," he added with a smile.

Luke blinked at him. When was the last time he'd seen him smile? Even as a child, that expression had not been frequent. It looked a bit frightening on his scarred face, but he wasn't unsettled by it. Of all the ways Luke had thought today would go, this was certainly not one of them. "What did you tell Rey to do?"

With a snort, Kylo Ren adjusted their course to head for the base. How he knew where it lay was a mystery to Luke, since nothing could be seen from the air. "You have that backwards, Uncle. She wouldn't answer to me."

"You answer to her?" Luke asked in disbelief.

That made Kylo Ren smile again. "Today was her plan. I thought it could work. Much simpler than what I figured would have to be done," he added admiringly.

"What did she do?"

Sobering, he focused on their flightpath for a moment. "The First Order is run by fanatics at the top level. But the rest of them are there because they have nowhere else to go, so no reason to stop fighting. She gave them one."

Luke had heard of the ability to influence fellow soldiers or even whole armies, but hadn't expected anything like this. "She just... made them want to turn on their masters?"

"Most of the Stormtroopers were taken from their families at a young age and have witnessed enough death. We always watched them carefully for any slight behavior deviations that might indicate their loyalty faltering. So they were easy to influence. The officers were more difficult, I'm sure, but she managed to get things started."

Shaking his head, Luke found it hard to come to terms with the fact that the war might have been ended so abruptly, and without any more bloodshed. It did sound like something Rey would consider viable – she was very strong but had a certain childlike quality when she looked at the world. It was amazing to see in someone who had lived through so much.

The blast doors were closing and Rey was about to get inside when she stopped abruptly, looking up. "Come on, miss," the woman who'd found her insisted.

"I think I will be happier here," Rey replied, and stumbled away from her. Despite the protests that followed her, she continued down the hallway, and the woman was forced to give chase, thinking the poor girl had lost her mind. They both skidded to a stop when the door a few yards from them opened and two dark figures appeared.

The woman gasped in fear while Rey smiled. "Master Luke. I'm glad to see you made it back safely," she said happily. Then she looked toward the man leaning heavily on Luke. "I'm afraid it takes a bit to recover," she told him apologetically.

"It's alright," Kylo Ren replied, dragging his heels when Luke tried to pull him further forward. Luke looked over at him sharply and was surprised by the frightened expression on his nephew's face. It reminded him painfully of when, as a child, he'd been tormented by nightmares. Luke wondered suddenly if he had been seeing visions of the future.

"Where is Leia?" he asked Rey, aware of how the question made Kylo Ren tense.

"Inside. They thought you were attacking and are closing the doors, but I'm sure I can get them to open them again," Rey explained, turning to the confused woman next to her. "Don't you think?"