Bonded

Chapter 19: Complications

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Rey manages unexpected complications with the bond.

Head's up: This is a "no Ben/Kylo" chapter.

Rey weaves through the crowded hall of the training base, moving as quickly as she can. She glances at oncoming faces, expecting to recognize at least a few.

But they're all strangers.

She's not used to this, having so many people around. Usually, it's just her, the other instructors, and the new recruits. The base normally seems too big for them, a small, tight-knit group of about fifty people, but now there are hundreds. Hundreds.

Every member of the Resistance has come to Dorajan for the General's debriefing, and though Rey looks forward to things getting back to normal, it's been useful to get a sense of what the base will be like once their numbers pick up. After all, this place was never intended for just a handful of recruits. It was built to train an army.

But in light of yesterday's report, it will be a quite a while before that vision becomes a reality.

A twinge of guilt tugs at Rey's chest. She picks up her pace, abandoning politeness to push bruskly past the oncoming traffic.

She doesn't have much time. The General will be leaving any minute now, and she can't let this opportunity to speak with her slip away. She's been itching to talk with her one-on-one for weeks now. She has a question, one that's been gnawing at her, and the General is the only one she knows who can answer it.

Then again, given her reason for asking, the General is also the very last person in the galaxy she'd want to talk to about this. Honestly, if that's all there was, she wouldn't be barreling through the hallway right now.

But she also has an idea, one she's been toying with. She wanted to think on it a little more, work out the details, but after hearing the General report their plateauing numbers, she feels the need to act now.

Because the truth is she's partially responsible for their slowdown in recruitment. It seems that the growth of the Resistance is directly correlated with the galaxy's perception of the First Order, and apparently, people in this galaxy have very short memories.

It's been nearly a year since the destruction of the Hosnian system and the New Republic, yet despite this atrocity, the First Order is currently enjoying a boost in reputation. They've made some popular moves lately.

Like starting to sweeten negotiations for resources with building projects, and not just any projects. They're rebuilding temples and marketplaces, symbols of community pride and history, often ones that were destroyed by the Empire. The entire strategy seems designed to win local support, and it's working...

Then there was the recent take down of Riker Vos and the Merdos Syndicate. The galaxy swooned over that one. One of the most hated criminal organizations in the Outer Rim, wiped out within a week.

Rey sucks in a breath, pushing past throngs of people.

She'd been thrilled when she first heard about these things. She couldn't help but interpret them as signs, signs that the bond is doing its work. It was so encouraging to see a couple of small moments have such a significant impact, to influence him to make decisions like Ben Solo would, not Kylo Ren. He's changing, slowly but surely...

Of course, it never occurred to her that in the process of doing so, he'd become a stronger leader.

And a stronger enemy.

She sighs, rounding a corner, the command center just a few paces ahead.

This process— the bond, turning Ben Solo— it's all becoming so complicated, in more ways than one.