Tormented • Kylo Ren/Ben Solo

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•••
"Down to the ashes, bones are left to dry, waves of isolation, there's nowhere safe to hide"

PRESENT DAY

It wasn't until she got closer to the dark figure did she realize they were wearing a stormtrooper uniform.

She wanted to turn back, abandon the enemy. But something told her to stay. Help him, her inner voice said. And who was she to disobey?

By the time she had completely landed the Falcon, the poor guy looked like he was about to pass out.

Panting, he—with barely any cohesiveness—explains to her what had occurred: he was a stormtrooper for the First Order that had refused to fire on innocent people in Jakku, one thing led to another, and he suddenly found himself breaking out the Resistance prisoner.

Victoria listens very intently to all of this, despite Damon and BB-8's complaints about the heat and the bullets of sweats running down her body.

"And after we escaped, a bunch of their ships followed us and kept on firing at us. One of them managed to damage our ship badly enough that it fell. I couldn't find Poe after the crash..." The man said, and he almost looked like he was about to cry.

"I think he's dead." He handed Victoria the jacket in his hand and said, "This is the only thing left of him. I don't know what to do."

Before Victoria could respond, BB-8 wails and runs to the former stormtrooper, insisting that he had killed his friend. Startled, Damon picks up BB-8 in an attempt at keeping him from hurting the man. "BB-8, calm down, no, stop— stop it! I think he's telling the truth."

Victoria furrowed her eyebrows as she took in the information. It's definitely upsetting, and Leia saw Poe as a second son, I know. There's probably going to be a memorial after we return with the map to Luke.

She sighed and looked back at the man. "Got a name?" "F-Finn."

"Alrighty, Finn. I'm Victoria. That's BB-8, Poe's droid and best friend, and that," She points to Damon, who simply offers a cocky smile, "is my brother, Damon."

Finn appeared as though he was about to throw up, clearly overwhelmed by the situation that he found himself in.

"So, you're with the resistance?" He asks. "Yes," came the reply from Victoria. "I'm Leia's Second in Command and Damon is a pilot and trains new recruits."

BB-8 finally breaks free from Damon's grip, only to make his way back to the ship, insisting that everyone else come along.

A tense silence passed before Damon turned and said, "Well, you heard the guy, and we must follow orders."

•

PRESENT DAY

Kylo Ren stormed into his chambers, livid.

He removes his mask and throws it to the ground, screaming. Dameron escaped, a Stormtrooper betrayed them, and even worse, the map to Skywalker is gone.

Victoria is also back, said a voice in his head that he willed to shut up, despite the fact that something in his gut told him to trust it.

No. She is not. She's dead, and it would be best not to delude myself into thinking otherwise.

He threw himself onto the floor, tears of frustration running down his face. They've won. And Skywalker can't simply win.

Kylo then decided that he will find that droid. As for the traitor and whoever that girl is... they'll pay in due time.

He stands abruptly, adjusting his clothes before retrieving his discarded helmet.

Kylo stands there, helmet in hand as he stared at it intently. He examined its various scratches and dents.

It was a flawed mask. A fractured one. So much so, that when he's looking in a mirror, sometimes he feels as though he can see the man underneath...

But enough after that.

Kylo Ren needed the map to Skywalker, and so that map is exactly what he would make sure he gets.

•

28 ABY

He looked so peaceful. So angelic. It's almost impossible to think that he could be able to cause harm to anyone or anything.

That night, as approached his nephew's hut, Luke Skywalker would have to disagree.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH
THINGS
ARE
GONNA
GET
WILD
-M.E.