"THE MIND; a beautiful servant, a dangerous master."

FINN

TWO HOURS BEFORE ATTACK ON D'QAR:

A small, dull beeping resided deep within Finn's jacket pocket as he and Rose stripped out of their First Order uniforms. Quickly fumbling around with the charcoal gray jacket in one hand and trying to shove the other into its pocket. A small, stolen, First Order issued comm unit sat in the palm of his hand as he opened it.

"Got it," Finn whispered to himself, letting out a labored breath.

Opening the message it read;

'I'm on my way.'

Shoving the comm back into the pocket of his original jacket he grabbed Rose's hand before sprinting out of the ship.

***

Slashing upward as Snoke brought down his saber across Rey's, she quickly dodged his forward attack, starting towards his side, repeatedly trying to expose where Leia had shot him. His attacks were sporadic and lazy, easy to predict as she circled him once more, studying the way he moved. Rey had to admit she was terrified beyond belief, he's a master and she is still a mere apprentice yet she was managing to hold her own. Sweat poured from her face, her muscles taut and ready, teeth grinding against each other in frustration. All she wanted to do was rest, her arms were beginning to feel the fatigue, the burning pain from holding the heavy hilt for so long.

Time was lost to Rey, no longer aware of the possibility of the setting sun. Its deep orange light bled across the surface of D'Qar, streaming up and down the bounding green hills that surrounded the base. It was eerily quiet outside, the slightest brisk breeze of the upcoming winter was one of the only upsets. The other was the rancid stench of death that was wafted throughout the air, thick enough for a knife to slice, the bodies continued to lay still as they did when they were gunned down from opposing sides. A couple of Resistance soldiers decided to brave the exposed area of fire to pay the respect of the fallen, to collect and prepare them for burial. Some wept as they did so and some remained silent, using numb fingers to close the eyes that had now seen the unseen. Some muttered words sacred to only them and the silent receiver of their loved ones, family or friends. They all knew the consequences of war, but you never truly know until the experience is greeted with begrudgingly open arms, it was their duty and that was known by everyone who was out on that field.

The First Order was less than respectful of their fallen brothers and sisters. A few knew it was wrong and they were itching to collect them or even their personal tags that laid beyond the white breastplate, against the deads unmoving chests. Yet, Hux ordered a retreat back to the ships well aware of the fight that was residing inside, the state of Kylo Ren and how he was nearing his end. A small smirk appeared on his pale lips before it was swiftly taken away by the sight of one of Phasma's executioner troopers, empty-handed.

"Well? Where is she?"

"Her signal went dark hours ago, sir. No one has heard from her since, and she couldn't be found on any of the surrounding perimeter checks."

Hux's face fell slightly. Quickly straightening his shoulders, his jaw tightening, "Keep her channel open in case of her return but until then I want all of these troopers in their designated ships and in the air." The trooper shifted feet, clutching onto his electro spear for dear life as if it was the only thing keeping him from falling into a deep sleep from his extreme exhaustion.

"Now!" Artimage ordered, startling the surrounding troopers, before fixing his hat and stalking off into the commander's ship.

***

"There's no ships left!" Poe yelled out to Finn as he attempted to increase his speed to catch up, his thick, hot flight suit was making it a bit tricky. Finn's hand was still connected to Rose's as he almost dragged her along.

"We called one in!" Finn said back over his shoulder, frantically rounding a corner. Luke and Leia, we're up with them, him clutching her against his chest. 'For an older guy, he can sure carry more than his own weight.' Poe thought quickly as he too rounded the corner.

"What?!-" Poe asked incredulously, flailing his arms in the air. A loud bang resounded through the air as they approached the launch bay, followed by a concussion of wind that blew Poe back a step. His mouth formed an 'o' shape as a large freighter grumbled into port, exhaust tubes bellowing out white smoke. Panels were dangling, twinkling rust was fizzling away into the wind, as a loud creak screamed through the bay as the dampers released to settle the ship onto the floor. Poe had no words...except one, one came to mind. Garbage.

The bay hatch opened with an ear-piercing screech, lowering more slowly than needed, Poe's sweaty palms flexed anxiously.

'C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...' His mind eagerly attempted to edge on the physical door with a mental command but found it to be only psychically useful to prevent him from going insane in that moment.

Finally, the metal sheet hit the floor with a bang, revealing the ship's pilot behind it.

"Well? Let's go! Come on!" Lando's words seemed to knock the shock from Poe's bones, as well as Luke's. From Leia's stories Poe he overheard he was sure if she was conscious, she would've been happy to see him.

"Where too, Finn?" Lando questioned as we all barreled onto the decently sized freighter, filing down the hallway into the pilot and co-pilot courters. Poe, naturally lunged into the pilot seat, hands getting familiar with the old controls rather quickly. Surprisingly in the grim circumstances, a small smile quirked his lips as he needed something familiar.

Suddenly a firm, tanned hand gripped his shoulder.

"Son? That's my seat." Lando explained plainly, without much of a facial expression.

"But I-" Poe's tongue became knotted as he tried to explain that he was probably the best bet here to get through the First Order barricade, but Lando didn't see or simply didn't care about his pitiful and shocked expression.

"Move." Lando swiveled the padded seat Poe still sat in before throwing him out.

Poe's face heated slightly, "at least let me be co-pilot!"

As he said this, a slim tear washed down Roses face. Taking notice, Finn gripped her hand once again and said, "good idea. Poe's co-pilot. C'mon Rose." He led her down the hallway to the medic packs along the cargo banks.

Poe nodded proudly more to himself than anyone else. Plopping down into his chair he immediately began flipping switches, turning dials and adjusting view screens. Any pilot seat was his home, he felt more secure when behind the viewport of a ship, anyone who knew him well enough knew it to be true.

"I..." Lando started, sitting up in his seat, "my daughter, she-"

"Don't." Poe's forehead creased as his eyebrows furrowed, setting his mouth into a frown, "it...it wasn't your fault. No one could've known what she was gonna do."

The veteran pilot was silent, his seat creaked underweight as he slowly swiveled from side to side.

"So, where are we headed?" He suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"A separate, secure location where the General set up a base of operations. The Resistance is still working on it as we speak but it's nearly finished." Said, Poe, as he leaned back into the bantha leather seat, blowing out air through his teeth as he sighed loudly. Finally giving his heart a chance to calm down and beat normally, keeping his gaze forward set on the stars. Not really wanting to even put the effort into moving his hand but begrudgingly began to type in the coordinates of the Resistance's second base.

Lando asked after glancing at the head board that displayed the jumps destination, "Crait?"

Poe simply nodded before shoving the throttle forward, letting the stars in front of them stretch into strands of bright light before feeling the head brace of the co-pilot seat roughly hit the back of his head as the old ship sped away from D'Quar.

•••

REY

Winged creatures of the sky pecked at the soft soil of the fields around the Resistance base, unable to fathom the horrid actions happening within the large, mossy building.

A bone-chilling, female scream roared so loud throughout the land that the black feathered animals screeched out of fear and took to the gray skies in the safety of the clouds.

There was stillness on both sides. If hatred was visible the air would have been scarlet. Then suddenly movement, so much force in every blow. Rey's breaths came out in heavy pants, her throat constricting at the scent of fresh blood as it oozed out of her upper arm. The black, burnt surrounding patch of flesh still sizzled from Snoke's sabers impact. She let out a hiss, narrowing her eyes, raising her shaking arms to begin the brawl once more before a blow to the side of her head caught her off guard, causing her footing to slip from under her and descended to the ground.

"Ah!" Hissing once more as her head reverberated from a dull ache to a rhythmic pain. Her hands instantly went to cradle her most important organs and attempted to tend to her head at the same time in panic. Casting a quick glance up, Rey's eyes widened slightly as a bright red guard stood proudly above her. His shoulders bounced slowly up and down as his breaths seemed to be heavy, anxious. She could feel the fear that radiated off of him, it surprised her at the most. What did he have to be afraid of? A quick flash of memory slapped her in the face as if to call her a fool, of course! When he was incapacitated, he mustn't have known who was responsible and was taken off guard.

Rey's mind scrambled for her thoughts, trying to get muscles to work and her body to function properly. Her eyes spun slightly, blinking rapidly, she tried to steady them.

Suddenly her heart was in her throat, limbs stinging from shock as the scarlett warrior lunged his bladed staff towards her chest. It halted as soon as it reached her outer garment, but he kept it there to pin her to the ground like a tack on a board.

"You've put up quite a fight, young Rey. I would hate to do away with you so I must beg you to reconsider." Snoke's venomous voice slithered around in her skull as he hobbled into her gaze.

On the other side of the steel room, Kylo Ren trembled as he attempted to get to his feet. Seeing his mother was carried from harms way, a new vigor has revitalized within him, his breath returned to his chest even though his body begged for him to just sleep. 'If I fall now I know I will never wake back up.' He told himself as his hand slowly reached for his saber hilt.

"Never!" Rey spat at Snoke's disfigured face. He sighed once before waving his hand slightly towards the guard and saying, "we will simply have to take her with us by force."

The words 'take her,' sent a shock wave through Rey's body, immediately her muscles pulled and pushed until before she knew it she was upright again but unstable. Holding her saber as high as she could she leapt towards the red guard. He reflected her movements easily, pushing against her saber, both person arms shaking and teeth clenched. Sweat glided down Rey's injured temple as she roared, jumping back and spinning quickly around to his back before making a quick slice to his armor. It burned but didn't slice through.

'What?!' Her mind exclaimed.

Frightened she edged back. Snoke watched, enthralled with this young girl's passionate form of fighting. The fluency of her strikes and the edginess of her outcries as she battled impressed him, she would make an excellent and prized pupil. Even better than his former. His gaze switched from Rey to where Kylo Ren once laid but to quickly realize he was no longer there. His head turned about the room until he watched a figure launch from the darkness of the other side of the chamber where the lights have been damaged from the previous First Order troopers that were now sprawled across the floor.

Rey attempted to push back defensively as the guard let out a yell, he retreated and kicked out his boot, hitting Rey's hip. Satisfied with his intended target, she almost slipped back to the floor. As he approached her he saw her eyes widen slightly at something behind him. Turning rapidly on his heel he soon heard the haunting sound of his usual opponents blood-red lightsaber crackle to life.

Rey watched in utter shock as a bruised and battered Kylo Ren bashed his red, fiery saber against the guard's staff. His lips were raised into an ugly snarl as were his teeth clenched and grated together from the pressure. Anger bubbling and boiling over, Kylo began to scream, continuously hitting his saber against the guard's staff, shouting and bashing, howling and sending that guards mind into a frenzy of fear.

Snoke's eyes displayed interest as his apprentice took out his feral anger and frustration on one of his guards. Not once had he ever showed this to him before while training numerous of times with these men.

Ren spun, causing only the skirts of his tunic to fray upwards in an almost majestic way, bringing his saber down across the shoulder of the guard cutting straight through his garments under his armor. No sound could be heard from the guard's helmet as he keeled over, dropping his weapon in the process of his untimely demise. Rey's mouth continued to hang open unhinged, her eyes just as wide as the red warrior's as he fell at her feet.

"Working together...now that is strange."

"Enough of your jesting! We have her! We have what we've come for so let's leave." Yelled Kylo, stalking towards Snoke, his sweat-matted curls bounced with each stomping boot. His boldness within his demands almost even startled the marred master as he barred his teeth, staring down at this boy.

"You dare order me?" Snoke took a taunting step forward, the gold in his robes sparkling, "however I feel as if," he takes in a shaky breath, "she was to come with me, she would be intolerably rebellious against my wishes. What I need her for can be done just as effective here than in my own home." At that moment Snoke wrenched his crippled hand in Rey's direction, his long, cold fingers trembling slightly.

Kylo Ren's chest tightened and wincing visibly. He stood there, glued in his rigid stance as he watched Snoke filter the force strength out of her, causing her to visibly shake and scream out in agony. Small tears bore their way out of the corners of her hard squinting eyes, the incredulous pain burned beneath every fiber of her skin.

'Parasite.' He thought menacingly, his brows furrowed as his memories encase him once more. The times Snoke has done this to him, influencing him to do horrors to build up his strength. Horrid things that would keep him up throughout the night waking up in cold sweats and tears causing his eyes to swell.

"Stop! Please..." she whimpered helplessly.

"Give me everything," Snoke spoke over her terrifying screams, his beady eyes honing in on her scrunched face.

"AAHhh! Stop! STOP!" She cried once more, her throat growing dry and scratchy. Her scalp ached as well as her skull, feeling like someone took their knee between her eyes with intention of cracking it straight open like an egg. Small drops of blood started to ooze from her ears, trickling down her neck.

Before he even realized it, Ren's feet began to swiftly carry him in front of Rey. Confusion was a hot commodity between all three beings within the dimly lit chamber. Rey's heart beat was an ear ringing anthem in her panting chest, suddenly breathing was no longer a will it was a chore as her eyes dried and felt as if someone had blown bits of gritty sand directly in them.

Kylo Ren; the most feared and intimidating commanders of the First Order and master of the Knights of Ren. Known for his cold, unfeeling demeanor, jesting comments, and especially his seemingly bloodthirsty attitude. At least, that's who he thought he was. For years he has been shoving the putrid thought away of the possibility that Ben could still remain within him. So he kept putting on the mask, he kept following through with Snoke's bidding, he kept killing in the name of the First Order.

No more. This is it.

"AAAHHH!!" Kylo screamed ferociously, finally reaching Snoke and sending his crackling saber into the air, following a wide, downward arc towards his chest. It was intended to be a killing blow for sure but the saber didn't reach its destination. Snoke guided one of his own hands to outstretch in Ren's direction, harnessing his stolen force energy to shove Kylo back. To his surprise, he didn't get launched back as he foresaw but Kylo raised his own hand and deflected the push and with the other that held his saber hilt he wrenched it forward once more, actually striking through Snoke's glistening robes.

Screeching like the unholy beast that he was, he tripped backward while clutching his wound.

The feral look in Kylo Ren's eyes was undeniably pure hatred, the regular brown was deepening into a darker black. Stepping forward, closer to his so-called 'master.' Hearing a thump behind him he quickly whipped his head towards the sounds, sweat flying off of the tips of his slick, black curls. His eyes fell upon Rey's crumpled form, matching Snoke's. Her hair falling down her shoulders, her face ghostly white, scarred with bruises and mud. But her eyes... her eyes were opened wide at an invisible terror, a hidden monster no one else could see, but only she could see. Her pupils were trained on the ceiling, shaking slightly, lips mumbling incomprehensible things.

"She's gone."

Ren turned back toward Snoke where he still lay, a smirk curling his ugly features. Charging at him, Kylo raised his lightsaber to his neck.

"You're beaten! Let her go!" He screamed.

"I did, you petulant boy. Her mind couldn't take the pressure and just like glass...it broke." Somehow his smile spread wider, the corners of his mouth reaching his mutated black eyes.

"She's gone."