KYLO REN

Screams
ripped through the air. Smoke billowed out of windows, rooftops, canisters as well as corpses that littered the sandy streets of Socorro.

A strong wind ripped past Kylo Ren's boots, adding another thick layer of dust and grime.

His hooded eyes scanned the skyline, head turning to grasp its full beauty. A movement was picked up in the corner of his helmets radar, no matter how small. Kylo's lightsaber had been long removed from his belt, humming loudly, sparks of red ejecting from the deadly beam.

He approached the movement, trailing it behind a small hut built from packed sandstone. Boots slamming against the ground and skirts flapping in the gusts, he rounded the dark corner.

Blinking in the corner of his vision twice to flag the helmet's installed infrared systems, Ren stood over a small bright orange substance that cowered at his feet. His breaths came out heavy and forced as the smoke and dust were thick even for my filters.

He arched his wrist, edging the crimson blade even closer to the breathing body beneath him. Bathing it in scarlet light, he could finally see the shortly cut hair of a small child, cowering against abandoned crates in the alleyway. A young boy.

He stood and stared as he hid his face from my helmet. The fear that was emitting from his very being was palpable.

"Sir." One of my leading troopers voice barked in Kylo's ear from his personal transmitter.

Neck tilting his head to the side slightly while rolling his shoulders he replied, "yes?" He spoke inwardly, the response never leaving the helmet's speakers.

"All of the buildings have been cleared and all of the civilians have been gathered in the center square. Awaiting your orders."

'Not all', He thought.

Yet still, Kylo Ren stood silently above him. The poor boy was dressed in rags mostly, his light blonde hair met his neck then stopped to continue on with bruises from seemingly recent struggles. They trailed down his arms as they held his legs against him to make a pathetic attempt at protecting himself.

Ren raised his lightsaber, but only to deactivate it moments later and reattach it to his leather belt at his hip. Without a word he left the alleyway, left the sniveling boy along with his fear. It wasn't mercy. It wasn't caring for Ren to do so.

Eventually. . .he would travel out to the center, eventually, he would see what we have done to his friends, to his family. Then, and only then will he feel what Ren has felt. That's a pain no man should ever share, especially not with an innocent child. But then again, he was no man. To be a man you would have to be human. And that Kylo Ren was not. Not anymore.

"On my way."

      |•|

"Broadcast our signal to every available, sophisticated planet within eight clicks of our location." Ordered general Hux to whoever had ears.

"We will be pulling out of Socorro and docking back at him nearest supply station to-"

"No," I spoke my first word since leaving that wretched planet's surface.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" He mocked me, to my very face. His tone slurring out of anger but once we made eye contact, due to me taking off my helmet once we boarded, he looked away as he pressed his lips into a firm line. Over the years, Hux has established an imaginative dominance over the crew, they need to process that I am in charge as well as Hux, the first step was punching him in front of the eyes of my men. The next step is unknown even to me.

"Forget about the supply run."

Hux let out an irritated sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if he were explaining the process of human reproduction to a petulant child.

"We are low on food, the cooks have nothing to serve in the mess-halls. Vaccines are at they're maxed and we need more troopers! The last trip to Unaham cut through our soldiers."

"How?" No one had apparently taken into consideration the need to inform their superior on this important detail.

"They were jumped by a group of rebels wearing this strange new insignia." He growled and slid a port-screen across the metal table, it clawed its way to my sight before displaying a rebel soldier aiming at one of my troopers. Pure hatred and determination were etched across his old wrinkled face, he reminded me of...

"I do not recognize this symbol..." I said lowly, not intentionally speaking out loud at all.

Hux looked up from his hands underneath the table. "We've been running it through our databases all the way back to the beginning of the Imperial Era. No results, yet."

"What about before that era?"

"Unfortunately, due to the revolution of our past leaders, it involved some...compromising with information."

"So we have nothing," I stated bluntly, running a pale, calloused hand through my hair. Stress was constantly palpable around me lately, I've pondered on the thought often, yet I haven't been able to drum up a solution.

"Yes, sir." He replied almost begrudgingly.

My hand slowly descended from the crown of my head, lowering into my lap without thought. My eyes narrowing, my mind focusing on the one plan formulating from within.

"We must take hold of the enemies supply lines to enforce their imminent destruction." My voice sprung from my lips faster and with more confidence than I knew I had. The room fell silent, only a few of their eyes remained fixated on me, the others kept glancing at their laps or anxiously tapping against the table in thought.

One man, posture reflecting a wooden board's, spoke up amongst the others finally. "We have thought of this. Yet the offer was quickly discarded due to the fact that we have not the slightest idea of where they are being shipped from nor who is carrying it out. There is no possible way that the information could even be obtained. No adequate Resistance soldier would talk."

"Those are some very deep holes to fill lieutenant. We cannot base our plans on assumptions," I narrated our problem into the open air. His reply had flaws, yet they weren't complete nonsense either.

Hux lifted his eyes to mine, "the killings on Socorro were to get their attention, yes? By now they have heard of the unfortunate number of 'innocent' casualties. They must act soon and we must predict when. Supreme leader will not stand for tardiness. He demands action."

My mind sifted his comments over, picking away at them like choice meats.

If the Supreme leader demands action, then action he will receive.

|•|

"Sir. We will land on D'Quar within five hours." A pilot clad in their usual charcoal suits, alerted Kylo Ren as he stood by the constantly whirring automatic door. He had been waiting patiently for over thirty minutes beforehand. Every now and then stealing glances at its hands, knowing all of the pain they alone have caused but then not caring the least. His heart felt like someone was consistently ripping it out of his chest and the wrenching it back in its place in just enough time for him to live and breathe.

It was exhausting.

"Good." He replied. Trying to keep a level head. "Keep me updated on any further changes."

"Yes, sir." Said the young pilot, attempting to contain the fear within him enough for it to not be noticeable, yet Kylo picked up on moments before he stepped through the door to alert him. The pilot gave a curt nod and exited back to the cockpit from which he came, carrying his anxiousness back with him like the ghost of a scent.

Kylo Ren didn't sit at a board table with men that hardly saw the action when it commenced. He was needed in the action itself, he was going to the heart of the Resistance. He had kept Leia detained long enough. She was now on his small ship, heading straight where he had ordered her from. The circle was beginning to become complete.

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