Dawn of a new Force

Chapter 4 - On board the Fluency.

Reyopened her eyes quickly. She took a deep breath, and her heart spedup with a bound in her chest. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in herskull, and for a moment she wanted to go back to sleep to forget it.

It seemed to her that she was reaching the surface of black water andclouded after sinking into the depths. She was scared, but quicklycontrolled herself. Then, recovering her senses, she turned her headand saw that she had no shackles. She was on a black metal bunk, in adark cell with gray walls. A single point of light diffused to thewhole a cold and agonizing atmosphere. She knew right away that shewas a prisoner, but did not immediately remember how she got there.

That cranial pain again ... It seemed to her that someone was tapping on the inside like an anvil. She mechanically passed her hand over the back of her head, and she felt her hair stuck with a substance that had dried. She also felt the micro-mesh suture that was applied to the bottom of her skull at the edge of her hair. And then she remembered her last vision. She projected her mind trying to feel the living beings around her. Nothing. She must not be afraid. She sat down on her bunk, hoping that the Falcon could have passed and that the rebels hidden on Kira had been able to hide themselves.

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Kylo Ren was standing at his desk. He read on the scan of activity report to Kira. 

172 stormtroopers dispatched, of which 1/3 remained on the planet Kira 1 to trace the remaining rebels. 3 rebels captured and currently tortured, 1 executed on the spot, 1 dead while trying to escape. 9 stormtroopers shot dead or died of injuries. No trace of Leïa or Falcon. He had been spotted just before his hyperspace jump, and no tracer had been fixed before. 

He rested the report. A failure. 

He circled the table, then showed a hologram showing a map of the galaxy with markers of colors. Orange: cache likely old and likely to be reactivated. Red: highly likely location of pockets of resistance. Yellow: Falcon's statistically established direction, calculated from its latest navigation data. The three colors were present in the Gamorr sector. He should go there as soon as he is ready.

An officer entered quietly and waited for the signal from the Supreme Leader. Leaning behind his hologram, Kylo Ren glimpsed and straightened up, waving his hand. 

- Supreme Leader ... 

- Yes? 

- Our detectors in cell 56-KJ informed us that the prisoner is awake. 

Well, he thought. 

- I want the rules to be the same. This prisoner is extremely dangerous. No living being should approach him, except me. Her powers are strengthened and she could easily handle any spirit. Is this understood?

 - Yes, Supreme Leader. We will continue to apply the same rules. Do I have to send a medical droid to make sure her injury does not get worse? 

- No, I'll go myself. Prepare me for an escort of Armo droids.                                               

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Rey suddenly felt him approach. Again ... She was there at his mercy, and it bothered her. She knew he would not repeat the same mistake twice. And the first time she came out alive. 

The door opened almost noiselessly. She saw behind him four Armo droids, and their sophisticated oval shields. He had come with some reinforcement, but nothing that she could handle mentally. She noted that he was planning now. 

She got up at her entrance. Still no mask, it seemed to belong to the past. The cloak was now red, the dress was eternally black. She had to look up to face him, so great did he look. 

He raised his hand and the door closed on them, the droids remaining behind. 

- I see that our care has allowed you to wake up. You've gone to the brink of death, do you know?

- Do I have to thank you? she asked cynically. 

- You could. 

He let a moment go by, then resumed, and asked her with a frankness that disconcerted Rey: 

- I could kill you right now. But I want to understand. 

- What? 

- Why are you hanging on to all this? Why do you refuse to admit that this old world is over? Why do you refuse to join me? 

Rey tried to project herself into his mind, to read in him as she knew how to do it. But he pushed her away immediately this time. He was ready, and his reply was immediate. She felt forcefully pushed back from her mind and into the room. She was projected onto the opposite wall and felt as if held by chains, clad on the cold metal. 

- You will not manipulate me anymore! He yelled. He softened, and in a cold voice he continued. You could have been a great ally, you made me believe that I could trust you. You disappointed me so much ... he finished. 

He approached her so close that she could feel his breath and had to lift her head to face him. 

- Ben ... I never wanted to handle you. I thought you could come back to the light ... but I think Kylo killed you. And I will never be your ally in the dark side. 

He looked at her intently, as if he were probing her soul. 

- We will see.

He turned on his heels and left the room, Rey still clinging to the wall. Before the metal door closed, he turned again and his hold on Rey faded. She fell to the ground on her knees, breathless as after a battle. He had a thin smile on his face that left Rey puzzled. The metal door ends up closing, leaving her alone and full of questions. She was not dead, but she wondered why he kept her that way. She would never let herself be drawn to the dark side, and he must know it. So what was he hoping for? Another question soon came to hide all the others, urgent. How to get out of there?