EVENT ▸ WELCOME TO HANABIRA

[futurologists]

LAND OF CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS Following guild Ophelia's first mission, after which the temporal shard was found and safely disposed of back on Headquarters, Guild Master Imogen informs them they've received a contract to help ease tensions in a land known as Hanabira, on an unnamed planet designated as Hathaway-484. However, the contract is from a third party and the Hanabirans themselves do not know about interdimensional travel, she explains, so it'll be best to announce Ophelia as visitors from a foreign land. Any strange appearances or abilities will be able to be brushed off as magic, as the Hanabirans are no strangers to things such as ogres and imps. They're given five days to look over the dossier, and then it's through the rift they go. Those who are new to rift travel may find themselves a bit dizzy on the way out, but overall, everything seems to have gone according to plan. Upon arrival, their magitek projects words in front of their eyes that only they can see: Location reached: HANABIRA. No events scheduled. You may wish to survey the surrounding area. » LAND OF CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS A militaristic society that values strength. Main sources of income: mining, foresting, hunting, blacksmithing. Heavy matriarchal ideals. Empress NAMA resides at the HEAVENLY SUMMIT. Those who attempt to reach the Heavenly Summit, which turns out to be the name of a castle situated on the tallest mountain peak, will not make it very far. Empress Nama's guards have no time for foreign strangers attempting to enter the castle without an audience, and there are plenty of them. It looks like that plan of action is going to take some time to rethink. There's still much more to look at, though. In the Merchant's District, you can stock up on everything you'll need to blend in. A cursory look at all the clothing and it's clear that the Mountain Clan style focuses on a more powerful look, with broad shoulder accents and thick fabrics. Both men and women wear kimonos, but it seems men's fashion changes depending on their age and marital status. Time to figure out those backstories! There are several more items for sale as well, as long as you're willing to pay -- or if you're particularly good at sleight of hand. The Commoner's District, derogatorily called the Slums by some, is where many of the lower class Mountain Clan work and live. Those who don't have the coin to buy a space in the Merchant's District sell their wares here; they are at a lower price, but often of lower quality as well, unless you're particularly lucky. This is the most densely populated area of the Celestial Mountains, and also the most egalitarian. Here, both men and women must do the same work to provide for their families. However, you will still find that the prevailing cultural attitude supports the matriarchy. On the other side of town is the Noble's District, which is patrolled by guards on regular routes. Men on their own will arouse suspicion in this area, as will anyone in any garb but the noble disguise. Troublemakers will be asked to leave and unceremoniously escorted out. Those who manage to stay will be able to find conversation with the nobility, many of whom are high-ranking military leaders. The rest of the town belongs to the lower to upper middle class, who are friendliest to women or groups with at least one woman in them. Women's reactions to sole men may range from dismissive to awkward, although men alone are not in any danger of angry or violent reactions (as long as they don't provoke anyone). ▸ SPRING FESTIVAL After a bit of time for exploring, a new message flashes in front of recruits' eyes. New event scheduled: MOUNTAIN CLAN FESTIVAL. » INFORMATION: Analysis of all mentions of 'festival' since the arrival of OPHELIA suggests heavy HANABIRAN presence at this time, during which guild members may wish to gather intel. It appears as though Ophelia has arrived just in time for the Spring Festival, a yearly celebration in honor of the changing of seasons. Plum and cherry trees throughout the Celestial Mountains flower in white and pink blossoms, creating a cheerful atmosphere as the population goes about their daily business during the day. Workers view the flowers during their lunch and tea times, and nobles can be found strolling through gardens in the Noble's District at all times. In the early afternoon, food stalls begin to appear in the Merchant's District, and by the late afternoon, the festival is in full swing: dumplings, noodles, persimmons, and skewered meat are available at various stalls, as well as plenty of sake. Other stalls sell beautifully designed kites, fans, and kimonos, and as the sun begins to sink down, some stalls begin to sell incense-stick fireworks. There are also games to take part in, from the light-hearted collaborative ball game kemari, to an archery competition, the winners of which are rewarded with plums and sake. An old man near the archery competition invites any passersby to join him in a game of Go, and he'll even offer to teach foreigners the rules of the game. There is also a falconry competition for the nobles, but unless you have a disguise, you'll just have to content yourself with watching. With so many people milling around, it's a good time to ask questions and try to get a feel for the political opinions of the people of the mountain clan. They are all in favor of their empress ruling Hanabira, supporting the spread of their traditional culture over the more lax culture of the sea clan. If asked their opinions on how to ensure there is no war, suggestions will range from preemptively killing the sea empress and her army, to banishing them across the sea. It should be noted that the mountain clan is not especially known for their expertise in diplomacy. As the sky darkens, fireworks light up the sky. It's very beautiful, but also very distracting -- the perfect time for something to go wrong. ▸ AN AMBUSH The fireworks are loud, and everyone -- even guards milling around -- are looking skyward toward the display. No one notices the danger until it's too late. A scream pierces the air, and everything after that happens quick and sudden: people are running in all directions, panicked, trying to escape. Stands are knocked over and food goes flying through the air. A merchant struggles to reach her wife, caught across the fearful throng of festivalgoers. It's chaos. As the panicked crowd begins to thin, those of Ophelia who stay behind to help will see the cause -- women wearing clothes of the sea clan and masks covering their faces are laying waste to the festival ground. They begin to set stalls ablaze, and though they aren't targeting any civilians, a handful lay dead or injured, crushed by the panicked stampede. Guards rush in to stop the women, and they could probably use help; they will be trying to capture them, but if your character is killing an ambusher instead, please let the mods know with a link to the thread. For those who aren't the fighting type, there are plenty of other things to do -- direct traffic, try to rescue civilians from the stampede, or go find someplace to hide yourself. Once the immediate trouble is dealt with, the festival unceremoniously ended, the civilians drift back to their homes to begin a restless sleep. If your character hasn't found lodgings for the night yet, they'd better get that matter settled soon. The morning after the ambush, there is tension and unease in the air. The people of the mountain clan mutter about taking revenge or continuing peaceably; the ambush and its effect on their relations with the sea clan is the topic of the day. Was this an attack sanctioned by the Empress of the Crashing Wave? Were these sea people acting of their own volition? Does it matter? The festival grounds could use cleaning up, and tending to the injured can be a good way to ingratiate foreigners (that's you) to the mountain clan. Otherwise, the forests of the Celestial Mountains are open for exploration, or the Flowerlands and its farms below. ▸ OOC NOTES Welcome to the first mission of the season! Apps are now closed and will remain closed until the mission is over. If you have questions about this log or the overall mission, please ask them on the dossier. Questions about Futurology in general should be directed to the FAQ. ▸ The festival and ambush lasts one IC day, after which characters may continue to explore. Areas currently open are the Land of Celestial Mountains or the Flowerlands. The Empire of the Crashing Wave will be introduced in the next log on 3 February. ▸ The Bounty Board is now live, as well as an items page. The February calendar will go live in late January. ▸ January AC will go up on 1 February. You will only need to supply one proof. February AC will require full activity.

Comments

[sololoquy]

[Going to kill her. Yes. Exactly.

Out of his already winded lungs comes a grunt of aggravation as she shoves him back down into the ground. He has an answer for her that dies on his lips as the weight of her is suddenly dragged off of his spine. He inhales deeply and rapidly pushes himself to all fours as fast as the Force will allow him, sweeping the leg of the last assailant that rushes toward him.

Rey yelps and draws his attention to her.

Kylo Ren springs upward and charges for the pair. Instead of grabbing the woman, he grabs for Rey firmly around her shoulders to keep her standing as he performs a manuever she might recognize: a command of the Force as his spare hand sweeps across the other woman's mind and knocks her out abruptly.

She is forced to release Rey's hair, and crumples to the ground in a heap. Once he's sure that Rey is stable, he let's go of her as if nothing had happened and turns --

-- only to see that the last of their prey has run off, leaving him feeling suddenly barren and dissatisfied.]

[forcevisions]

[ the instinct to fight him off, one she expects fully, never comes. she can feel his intent as clearly as her own. she releases the assailant's wrist instantly to instead grab onto him to steady herself.

she's steady on her feet as he withdraws. it's only that move that causes her to take note of his clothes. they're formal. clean lines, fine fabric. and dirty, now, thanks to her. she rubs the back of her head, under the tie that holds her hair back in a single ponytail. ]

Let her go. [ she looks down around them. something odd strikes her, looking at them. they're in sea clan clothes. but masks? why are they wearing masks? the adrenaline keeps her frazzled, too all over the place to really sit down and properly question it now. ] The guard will come for these.

[ she looks up at him. ]

If I hadn't been there, they'd be coming for you too. You know that, don't you?

[sololoquy]

[He doesn't want to let her go. He stares for a long moment, winding like a spring in silence while she observes the unconscious victims until he exhales hard, accepting that the last had gotten away. Now begins the long process of clenching and flexing his fingers to try and work out the adrenaline and other things that worked up within him.

Kylo doesn't even glance down to notice the dirt on his clothes, too focused on -- everything else, until her direct address brings him out of his hungry loop.

--and what she expresses doesn't quite register.]

They would not.

[Or maybe they would. There was no evidence to suggest they wouldn't, and plenty to suggest they would.]

There are greater concerns. Such as terrorists.

[He gestures to their unconscious bounty.]

[forcevisions]

[ she rubs her neck, cracking it, and walks back over to her staff to pick it up while he talks. it's a good distraction. she needs the physical anchor point to soothe the simmering discomfort she feels.

it had been his feelings, not hers, that had her teetering on the brink there. his hesitation to simply let that woman run proved it. didn't it? what did that mean? if the bond opened them to that, then what—

no. that road won't help her right now. she's simply unable to focus on anything else because they're both still coming down from the fight, fatigue making each breath a chest-heaving effort, sweat still forming courtesy of the still crackling flames beside them.

she wets her lips, hesitates a beat, before she answers, waffling between looking at him and looking anywhere else while she's still coming down. ]

They would. You know it.

[sololoquy]

Are you searching for thanks?

[He might have offered them freely if he had been in a better mood, but everything about Hanabira was testing him in ways he did not feel the need to be tested. She'd interrupted him in his task in yet another attempt to 'rescue' him.

But, in this, he supposes that she might be right. Feuding clans or not, he could not imagine that a noble man answering crime with capital punishment would have been taken kindly.

He turns back around to look at her, finally.]

[forcevisions]

Don't hurt yourself.

[ not quite flatly said. rather, there's a bite to it. an edge that she recognizes quickly is responding to the simmering aggression that still carries through the bond. she closes her eyes, turns her head briefly as if to crack her neck and dispel it. at the very least, it gets her more cognizant of it. ]

No. [ more calmly now. more herself. she holds one hand up. ] But I don't want you shouting at me because I stopped you from killing someone!

[ she drags her hand back over the top of her head, smearing sweat into her hair but also tempering some of her frustration with him. this is just. not going how she'd imagined it. no, wait, the problem was that she'd never bothered to imagine it. she just acted.

appealing to the moral values of a guy who murdered his father probably won't get her far, so she continues. ]

Look around. How many people died here today? How many could have, if that's what they'd been trying to do? [ that seems obvious, right. ] This was a message. If we keep them alive, we might learn something from them.

[sololoquy]

[Her bite does not quite gain the purchase she might hope for. Instead, he simply blinks in her direction and waits for her to make the point she so clearly feels the need to make.

And then when she lays it out, he still doesn't follow her logic. To indulge her, he does look around -- impassioned. Sure, there are people dead, most of them having been trampled rather than set on fire.]

Not very many died, in the grand scheme of things. You see, I've abandoned the practice of taking prisoners after the last prisoner I chose to pick up.

[She might remember which prisoner that was. Just a hunch. In case she doesn't, he offers her a pointed look, because the prisoner was her. But more importantly, she does raise one good point:]

No. You're right. Perhaps we can both learn something.

[His demeanor changes almost instantly, like a switch being flipped. His anger melts and solidifies into a singular focus as he steps around the body separating him from Rey.]

Have you ever sought information from another using the Force?

[forcevisions]

[ oh boy does she remember. she rubs at one of her wrists absently. if only because the memory hovers near the surface of her mind, she is surprised to find that she doesn't feel pressed to step back in unison with his advance. there's no defensiveness — at least no real, tangible fear that he might turn that anger on her — left in her.

her attention drifts down to the woman who'd had her by the hair. the one he had knocked unconscious. she can see where this is going — that was the sort of thing that urahara could not really teach her. it was hyperspecialized, and for ben, it was effortless.

she lifts her chin to meet his gaze and says pointedly, ] Once.

[ it's deliberate, this impudence. if he was going to bring up the first time they'd had a real conversation face-to-face like that, she's well within her rights to turn it back on him, as she had then. suddenly it's no wonder luke skywalker turned her away. ]

[sololoquy]

Yes. That's right.

[He takes a moment to glance over his shoulder before looking back to her, like he is sharing a secret. He doesn't know Finn is near, but he does know that Poe is in the area somewhere. There's a brief pause where he picks up on his presence in the Force, and he holds it there as he speaks to Rey, causing him to look vaguely distracted.

In truth, it had been frightening and infuriating at the time, but he's moved well past it especially in light of the fact that he's finally found something worthwhile to share. Something that they could both use here. The allure of it is more than enough to chase his frustration away.]

But you had help. I had already given you half of the bridge, then. These women will do no such thing for you.

[He turns, still watching Poe in some far off corner of his mind.]

Do you remember how you did it?

[forcevisions]

[ his intent is as bare to her as if it were written across his face. he wants to keep this private. this, at least, she can feel grateful to him for. if nothing else, he takes seriously the delicacy of the situation with her friends, and her intention to preserve her relationship with them.

even the thought strikes her as wrong. if she's so certain what she's doing is the right thing, should she be so worried about losing them if they were to be discovered?

her guilt feeds further on the warm hum the picks up in her chest. adrenaline. anticipation. there's a selfishness in wanting this, in giving any quarter on her previous point. she had been right then, in what she'd said. he had nothing to teach her that she wanted to learn. only darkness. only pain.

but … she looks down at the unconscious attackers around them. doesn't she want that? it's easy to justify it: the mission will be easier if they have this information.

luke's voice echoes in the back of her mind: you didn't even hesitate. ]

Yes.

[ she forces his memory away. luke skywalker is not here. luke skywalker would not come to find ben solo, to repent. the only reason she's doing this at all is because of luke skywalker. if he had hesitated less—

she presses her eyes shut. she can feel the force wrapping itself around her. inside of her. she can feel it in him, too. that presence is a comfort, pressing too at the back of her mind. always. the one sure thing. beside them the fire burns bright, even though she is physically blind to it, and so do they. these women. ]

I feel … rage. [ but these are only the faintest impressions. she is leaning against them. if, perhaps, one of them had already created a connection, it would have been enough. it would have been a knife into the heart of that connection. but on its own, it's … inadequate.

her eyes open. she holds onto that feeling, trying to focus. ]

But I can't hear them, like I heard you. I can't see what brought them here.

[sololoquy]

[For a moment, he thinks she might back down. He can feel her misgivings, even if he can't necessarily pinpoint their source. The guilt is obvious. The adrenaline muddies everything else. He can feel her reach for the information, and something in his chest swells.

Pride? Maybe.]

You're overthinking it. Don't shy from it.

[He says it when she opens her eyes, but his tone is shockingly free of command. Its a form of reassurance, his voice soft in tone and full of both promise and temptation. There is a sense that he is fighting the urge to split his attention from being the lookout to demonstrate for her.

The demonstration will not encourage her to learn. She must find it herself. In an effort to teach without example, he starts to chew on his lip, struggling for an analogy that she will understand.]

Close your eyes. Concentrate. You are not crossing a bridge, or opening a door. You are digging a hole. There is something buried that you must reach.

[forcevisions]

[ the softness of his approach causes something to swell and burst in her chest; cool relief trickles through her veins, steadily spreading to her extremities. this is what she had been missing. this is ben, who had been with her there in the hut on ahch-to, who had heard her pain and shared it.

she focuses on her breathing, ragged with effort — first the physical, and now the Force. she holds tight to the threads that tie her to the woman behind him.

again she closes her eyes. and then she can hear ben's breath, too. and the woman's. she concentrates on the latter, pulls herself closer. in the abstract sense. slowly, she lifts her hand, as she had seen him do before.

that interrogation chamber feels far away now. if anything, she leans into his presence, delves into him for the answers that she doesn't have. her fingers extend, and she can feel the woman's mind open up to her. ]

So much hate … [ it almost sounds as though rey flinches away from it. or as though she would like to, more like. she doesn't waver now that she's there. ] For the false Empress. They want to destroy her. [ she tilts her head, confusion writ across her features. a furrow in her brow. ] But they don't serve the other. This was their choice.

[sololoquy]

[Without realizing, his breathing regulates to match her own as she delves inward to the other woman's mind. It isn't until he feels a vague scraping sensation that he realizes she is still holding onto his mind for purchase, like someone afraid to let go of their companion's hand inside a dark cave, for fear of losing them.

He comes to the conclusion about the same time she does, eyes widening a little in surprise. It wasn't that he had expected her to fail, but the fact that she's able to find their true motives amidst all the hate is more impressive than he wants to admit. He tries to digest the information and start to analyze it, but its impossible while Rey is still holding onto him and digging through the other woman's mind.

He reaches up absently for an invisible thread and tugs, snapping their mutual connection to the unconscious body on the ground with a pop that is only audible to them both.]

They wear her colors, but they do not serve her.

[The idea is -- honestly kind of unsettling for Kylo Ren, who has been under the yoke of the First Order for a few years now. They had ways of dealing with things like that.]

Perhaps they are not of her clan at all.

[forcevisions]

[ her eyes flutter open only when the connection breaks, surprise parting her lips. she looks up and over at him, lowering her hand. briefly she searches for some form of approval in him, but … she squashes that instinct quickly.

it has never gotten her anywhere. not with han solo. not with luke. ]

But someone who benefits from instigating all-out civil war between them.

[ it feels as good as she had imagined it might after seeing that vision — falling into step with him, like this. effortless. that could be dangerous. ]

The guard will need to question them. If they discover this, it may stop Empress Nama from reacting. [ in case it wasn't clear that she still prioritizes nonviolence, she raises one hand towards a crowd of the guards and shouts a quick, ] Hey! Over here!

[sololoquy]

[If she had allowed her curiousity to linger, she would indeed recognize some approval. It was difficult not to be a little smug, given that she had rejected his teaching out of hand twice, and yet still ended up needing him anyway. He is proud of both her and himself.

That approval (and all the positive feelings associated with it) evaporates when she tries to get the attention of the guard. As fast as he can react, he reaches up for grab her wrist and jerks it back down, hopefully before a guard or anyone else witnesses him manhandling a woman in their city.]

And how do you plan to explain your discovery to them, exactly?

[bruh you’re supposed to talk about the plan before you initiate.]

[forcevisions]

[ she lets out a disapproving sound in the back of her throat — somewhere between a scoff and a 'hey!' — as he pulls her hand down. she turns back to him, some petulance written across her features that just straight up does not like being cut off and interrupted. obviously she had a plan of her own. ]

I don't plan to explain anything. They're guards. [ she tugs her hand back so she can gesture around. ] They'll do their job, question their prisoners, and learn exactly what we did.

[ which is, at least, an interesting piece of perspective from rey: she didn't doubt the potential to get that information by other, less invasive means. she just saw an opportunity to expand her understanding and seized upon it.

perhaps she really is learning too much from him. she sighs as she adds, ]

They'll be more inclined to talk to us if they see we've helped with the chaos tonight.

[sololoquy]

And you trust every authority figure you know to come to the same conclusions you do?

[Don't even try to answer that, because he already has at least one example that says 'no'.]

And you expect them to come clean at the feet of loyalists to a ruler they despise?

[That hatred did not belong to him, it belonged to them. But she is right about one thing -- it will perhaps gain them favor with the mountain clan. But the potential of it is not enough on its own. Kylo Ren needs a guarantee.]

If this is the path, then we must force them to confess themselves, and not leave it up to chance.

[forcevisions]

[ yeah there went the vestiges of her feelings of uwu. just like that. right out the window.

he's just

so intense.

rey almost needs to take a minute to just process the vehemence here. and suddenly she's realizing, ah, yes, she's going to need to learn to be less reckless and impulsive if only because she's going to have to

teach kylo ren how to have a not crazy extremist thought process ?? ? apparently. deprogramming, y'all. or reprogramming, maybe. ~from a certain point of view.~ ]

Force them? How? [ she gestures down at them. ] By revealing ourselves, and hoping they believe that we can read minds? [ then she drops her hand and gets Real Serious like oh sweetheart i know you did Not just suggest — ] Or do you mean torture? [ that's what the first order would do, right? god she sounds like fucking poe but THE WORDS ARE OUT OF HER MOUTH NOW ]

[sololoquy]

[He rolls his eyes at the way she says it, exhaling out of his nose impatiently. Yes. Torture. What about it, little miss goody two shoes?]

I do not care how it gets done, only that you cannot hand over our only lead.

[Kylo Ren half-growls through gritted teeth, eyes flitting upward to check the guard's approach. Surely one of them had to be making their way over by now.

What he has in mind isn't actually torture, but he suspects her opinion on the subject will not chance. So he reaches for her shoulders with the intent to grab her, to force her to understand.

He stops short of actually touching her.]

--we could persuade them to tell the truth, with the Force. Before the guards take them.

[forcevisions]

[ words aren't even out of his mouth before she looks ready to come at him for what he's going to say. she can see it in the roll of his eyes. he's writing off her protest. it only gets worse. there's something patronizing about the way his hands hover at her shoulders, though —

he hesitates. well, not really. he launches from argument to argument, his frustration palpable, but he doesn't act. he bargains with her. which is, at least, a cousin to trying.

she huffs out her anger, her eyes darting to the side. instead of worrying about the guard, she instead feels for poe. she realizes as soon as she does it why she's doing it and she stops short, a sudden clawing panic in her throat.

no. no. this isn't the same as freeing herself from starkiller by turning some stormtrooper. this is —

the dark place on the island. it felt like gravity. like ben does, too. you went straight to the dark. her eyes are on ben's and she feels like she's slipping. like the ground under her feet is falling away.

is she even in control of this anymore? ]

Mind control. You're talking about mind control.

[sololoquy]

You've already seen their guilt!

[He's hissing now, the guards are too close and he feels her reaching for someone, or something -- he doesn't follow that trajectory, because he needs to focus everything he has on trying to convince her that he's right. He can feel her willingness to work with him slipping through his fingers, and he's doing everything he can to cling to it.

His fingers, still hovering over her shoulders, clench and flex with the effort of keeping them off her. He wants to shake her, to force her to see his perspective, but there is another yawning chasm waiting to swallow him if he goes down that path.

And -- it doesn't quite scare him, but its a commitment he isn't quite ready for this early in the mission. Not when there are still layers of this problem to figure out.]

Ensuring they confess could stop a civil war. Right now.

[Blame extremists, paint a picture, force them to work together. It was brilliant.]

[forcevisions]

[ it's too much. she can feel fissures opening up in her chest. she was so brave down there, below the island, yet she is paralyzed by her fear here and now. the threat of finn on the supremacy, of the future she had seen, makes the threat of the dark side that much more overwhelming. inevitable, even.

so much so that his logic, his perfectly reasonable logic, incenses her. she grits her teeth. she can't trust herself with it. there's a silent plea in the way she looks at him, begging the question of why he's making this so hard. why he can't just —see that it's splitting her apart.

she pushes her hands back into her hair, drawing a breath, and starts to nod. slow at first, then frantic. okay. okay, this is what they're going to do. ]

I've never done it while someone was ... unconscious. [ she glances down, centering her breathing. ] You'll have to help me.

[ preventing civil war. that's what she's doing. that's not the dark calling to her. she grounds herself in that, gathering her composure. it would be easier to believe if it weren't ben making the appeal. ]

[sololoquy]

[Shock dawns on his face almost instantly when she gives in, naked and stunning him to momentary silence. It is brief -- he recognizes that he does not have time to marvel at his accomplishment. That could be done afterward.]

Yes--yes. Come--

[He reaches to offer his hand to her hastily, imploring her to take hold of it. There was no guarantee it would do anything at all, but past experience with hand touching has taught him that, if it did work, it would be an excellent shortcut to explaining exactly what was in his mind.

Regardless of whether or not she takes hold, his other hand reaches out to the woman to grab hold of her mind. As it turns out, they don't need to do it while she is unconscious. The presence of the Force causes her eyes to open, vision heavy with sleep -- not quite unconscious, but not quite conscious. Connected to them both.

Its a dark pool they wade in, threatening to swallow them, but Kylo Ren treads water easily with purpose and intent.]

You will tell the guards: "We confess."

[Something grabs hold of the connection. A surety, a sense of truth. Kylo Ren continues, concentrated and in a hushed tone.]

"We acted alone, on no one's authority and wearing false colors."

[The compulsion starts to take root, but there is a resistance -- he needs her help. He can't do this alone, not this fast, and not with the guards approaching them. There's a sense of urgency. Help me. Follow me.]

"Death to the false Empress of the Celestial Mountains."

[forcevisions]

[ nothing in his earnest gives her reprieve from her doubts. if anything, it reinforces them, but she has made her choice. resolve sets her jaw, and the fear is gone. this is what has to happen. she understands that. this is the way to stop the war.

she settles her hand without hesitation into his. not a gentle brush, this time. a clasp. firm and steady. she had felt it in the fight, it had been what drew her to him in the first place, but she feels it more now — the way they bleed into one another.

his fervid gratification. she walks the path with him, pressing forward against the woman's mind. she flinches, rebuffed by the way the attacker's eyes open as if to cast judgment on her. but she steadies herself.

she lifts her attention back to ben when he comes up against that resistance. her mind is strong, made stronger with purpose and belief. not like the stormtrooper, whose mind had been broken so many times by the first order that she could bend it easily. she nods to him, and together, they lean back into that intent. she extends her free hand, mirroring him. ]

Confess before the authority of the Celestial Mountains. [ her voice is flat, controlled by a sense of peace and certainty. it will be done. she has seen it work. ] You will tell them the truth.

[ the woman's lips move to form the words, to repeat them back at the stormtrooper had, but no sound comes out — as if because she were only halfway conscious. rey drops her hand, chest heaving. she leans into ben's grip — bodily, this time. there are footsteps approaching. guards, coming from behind, the clacking of wooden sandals.

free of their grip, the woman slumps back over, dazed. ]

[sololoquy]

[While the guards march over to collect the slumped over women, he goes back to marveling at what just occurred, barely even aware of the fire still raging beside them. They should probably put that out.

Unlike Rey, Kylo Ren lowers his hand much more calmly and with less exhaustion. He's done this deed countless times before, most times without any assistance whatsoever. It wears on her soul, but not on his -- in this case, it happens to work to both of their advantage. He might not be much of an actor, but by now, he has picked up on the expectations of them here.

So when Rey leans into him, he does not let go of her. Sure, he's a little stiff and not very genuine or practiced in the way he supports her, but there is an obvious attempt to make it look like he belongs there with her.

He nearly opens his mouth to explain to the guards what had happened, but catches himself and glances down at Rey expectantly. It should probably be her to say anything to them, if she had wanted to. But now that he's caught her eyes, he feels like he has to fill the awkward void.]

You did well.

[That's safe enough. And he means it.]