Chapter Text
The sound of the blaring alarms jolted you awake. Instinctually you threw yourself from your first order standard bed and into motion. “All pilots report immediately to stations. All pilots, I repeat, report to your stations immediately.” You shoved your hair back into a messy hair tie before pulling your flight suit up around your shoulders. You had learned early in your career as a fighter pilot to keep your EVA suit ready and waiting. It was at the point that without it on your skin you felt insecure. You fastened the suit closed and grabbed your gloves as you sprinted through your room's doors toward the TIE bay.
As you ran through the doors you heard the flight directing screeching you TIE number at you. You could see from the force field from the end of the hanger that the patrol squadron was attempting to hold off rebel x-wings. “DS-35 REPORT TO BAY 6!” You sloppily saluted as you ran by to the helmet and life support racks. You snatched your vest, threw it over your head and snapped it on. “Hey boss. It's about time for some glory huh?” Your eyes flicked over to the man standing next to you. Malek was smiling with a wild look deep in his eyes that spoke more to insanity than the lust of battle. All TIE pilots knew they were dispensable and looked at death in the coffin as the highest level of glory.
“Yeah, time to reap.” You snatched your helmet and jogged toward your TIE as you secured it onto your head. You climbed into the cockpit and bussied your hands with connecting your life support hoses from your vest to your helmet. “Com check. This is DS-35, sound off squad.” You listened to your squadron call back their operating numbers before starting up your twin ion engines. Once strapped in and the transparisteel locked into place you hit go on your life support. “Engage deflectors and prepare for launch. Command, squadron requesting launch.”
As you waited for clearance to launch the sound of the life support flooding from the vest hissed in your ears. “Stand by for new squadron leaders go DS-35.” You tilted your head slightly, growing annoyed. New squadron leader. Who the hell did this fucker think would override your position. You had devoted your life to not just submitting to the first order, but to dominate and suppress all competition. You had decided if it was the first order or elimination, you would do nothing short of casting an immeasurable shadow over your peers.
The bay doors opened and an immensely tall figure in all black robes, hood concealing his face, walked toward the heavily modified TIE/VN. Realization ran over you like the icey waves on Endor. “Fuck” you whispered softly. Kylo Ren himself loaded into the TIE and was promptly strapped in and ready to go. “DS-35. Your squadron is cleared for launch.” The commander's heavily modified voice betrayed no sense of emotion towards the upcoming battle. You wondered quietly why the Commander of all people would bother with such a skirmish, and almost pitied the X-Wing pilots misfortune. Command must be boring. You mused.
With little hesitation you launched from the bay and into the glorious inky black void beyond. There was no time to admire the jewels glittering across its canvass as you so often did on patrol flights as laser blasts narrowly missed you. “DS-86, DS-57, follow standard clean sweep procedures. Confirm deflectors in operation and begin elimination of all rebel pilots in 3...2...1.” You yanked your controls causing your craft to peel off from the formation.
You started to lay a barrage of fire down on your chosen X-Wing in your ear while you listened to your squad reporting at random intervals. The X-Wing burst into an explosion before crumpling and going dark. Just before the alarms on your ship chimed a warning you instinctually yanked your controls for an evasive move. Your ship alerted to incoming fire and you continued the roll rapidly dodging a rear attack. As you rolled your craft to the side you yanked the controls backwards to allow the X-Wing to roar past. You always trust your gut when you flew, that’s what made you such a successful pilot from the start. Once the pilot realized their mistake it was too late, while attempting to execute a defensive maneuver you squeezed the trigger. You continued to methodically work your way through the mess of TIE and X-Wings picking them off carefully. For you this was another day, and you felt completely at peace inside the safety of your small cramped cockpit.
“This is DS-86.” Malek's voice barked in your ear. “I need support, I can't shake em.” His voice sounded like ice shattering across a pond. You glanced to the screens trying to pinpoint his location and saw two X-Wings on his tail.
“Copy. I’m inbound. Head my way. We’re going to pull a courage maneuver.” As you corrected your course and began speeding to the other side of the star destroyer near the launch bay you heard that same modified voice over the radio. “No. The courage maneuver puts the ship's safety at risk. You will continue evasive maneuvers and I will intercept.” You frowned as your TIE sped towards their position. “BELAY THAT ORDER MALEK!” You yelled as you neared them. The moment you crested the ship you locked eyes on Malek hopelessly trying to evade two X-Wings on his tail. The Commanders TIE was closing on his position, but you knew there was not enough time now. “DO NOT DEFY ME! I AM ACTING SQUADRON LEADER!” The modulated voice tore through your headset, and it almost felt as it ripped through your mind.
Dizzy from the seemingly physical and auditory assault you shook your head and began pursuit after Malek. The Commanders ship was firing calculated shots at the evasive X-Wings with no success. You were on a path to intercept the chase from the side when Malek made a fatal mistake, a fated mistake. On his bank the X-Wing flanking his right side fired, hitting the TIE fighter mid roll. You heard Malek scream for a moment before his ship erupted into an explosion. It felt like his scream was continuing to ring in your mind. “FUCK, FUCK FU-” You were cut short as the X-Wings roared into a backwards roll in an attempt to flank the commander. The Commander fired narrowly, tearing a wing clean off causing the X-Wing to careen wildly through space as the other rolled backwards over him, before settling into position behind him.
Time seemed to slow for you as you began firing wildly at the X-Wing. If he died because of your negligence you might as well jettison yourself into space than come back. The Commander was eerily calm for a man being fired upon, and somehow, almost miraculously, avoiding blasts at his ship. You focused on your breathing as you realized you needed to protect him at all costs. There was a strange feeling of knowing what you needed to do, that it would be ok. “Commander.” There was a delay before the distorted voice came through. “Yes.” You allgined your craft for a collision course with the X-Wings path. “It's been a privilege to fly with you.” You said before slamming your thrusters forward. The alarms inside the flying coffin screamed in your ear, and distantly you heard screaming in your helmet, wait, no, no. . . You. You were screaming as your ship smashed into the X-Wing and your body slammed into the restraints painfully.
For a moment all you could see was white and then your vision cleared letting you surface to a world of agony. The transparisteel was cracked and chunks were floating in the vacuum before you. You became aware of a voice yelling in your ear. “RESPOND DS-35!” You tried to adjust in your flickering, dying, tomb to figure out where exactly the pain was coming from. You tried to look down but the agony in your neck caused you to suck in a breath so you settled for slowly running your hands over your body in an inspection. “I’m here. I’m alive.” The tips of your fingers made it to your thighs and you stifled a cry. A piece of the ship's side had shredded in the impact puncturing your hull. A piece of it was embedded into your upper thigh. For now at least I'm alive . Looking at the dying screens before you, you realized that in the impact your craft was starting to overheat from a malfunction in the onboard coolant for the ship's solar converter.
“You’ve been unconscious for a few minutes. . . We’re pulling you back into the bay now.” The flight control officer's voice sounded slightly relieved. You cleared your throat again and began trying to get the dying terminal to respond to a total shut down. “Negative control.” Your eyes flicked up to look out of the transparisteel port in front of you seeing the launch bay close to 100 yards from you. “My ship won’t power down. If you bring me in there it’s going to decimate the launch bay. The cooling system is down” you paused to suck in a painful breath as the beam stopped dragging you. “Just. Just leave me out here. . . “ There was a pause in the coms before an unfamiliar deep voice came over the radio. “Take off your harness. . .and prepare for retrieval.”
“. . . I don’t understand. Who is this?” Your mind wondered if you were already beginning to give into hallucinations. There was no way the tractor beam could pull you into the ship, without targeting the ship itself. “This is Commander Kylo Ren. What was unclear. I am retrieving you.” You watched as his figure clad in black walked to the edge of the bays barrier and raised a hand toward you. “Sir, my leg. It’s been. . . Well. It’s impaled. I can’t move.” You said unstrapping your harness and moving it behind you painfully in the seat. The movement alone caused black spots to dance in your vision. His deep voice returned “This will be-” There was a delay and then suddenly you heard his voice in your mind, and you couldn’t explain why, but it felt like something was coming towards you, like he was coming closer. This will be unpleasant. The invisible movement reached the front of the ship, and then wrapped itself around your body. A warmth emanated from it like a gentle sun.
You groaned as your body shifted slightly in its grip and pain screamed through your body threatening to destroy your thin grip on consciousness. It’s the force. He’s using the force. Suddenly your body was ripped out of the cockpit exploding the transparisteel with your body and causing you to scream. The force of the movement had tore the metal out of your leg. Everything started to melt together, like trying to remember a dream. You were flying toward the launch bay, then you were held wrapped in and against something firm but warm and your helmet was pulled from your head. There was a wonderful aroma that smelled like citrus and spice. Then the blinding lights of the hanger and medics kneeling around you.
You closed your eyes and when you opened them again from the agony coursing through your body you faintly made out the medics around you again, but in a new room. Your skin was cold, this hard surface was cold. You shifted our eyes to the side seeing a tall impossibly tall dark figure to the side. It’s death. . . I'm dying. I'M DYING You began to scream and thrash against the medics as your fight or flight kicked in dumping adrenaline through your veins.
You couldn't tear your eyes away from the figure as it swiftly walked towards you. “NO! NO!!!” You screamed partly in terror, partly in pain. It reached out with blackened. . . skin? Was that skin or leather? You couldn’t tell as the figure grabbed your flailing arms and pinned them beside your head. “WE NEED TO CLOSE THIS WOUND!” A voice yelled. The hooded dark figure lowered itself close to your face and you realized with wonder that it wasn’t death. It was an angel. His face was pale and stunning. You stilled staring into the warm amber pools of his eyes below his knitted brow and whispered softly. “An angel...You’re beautiful.” There was a pause as his eyebrows shifted from irritation to surprise before he released one of your arms. He moved his hand to the side of your head. “
You are safe, you are comfortable. You will sleep.”
The scent of citrus and sandalwood from his closeness washed over you soothingly as you let out a soft stunned “oh no” Then darkness started to consume your vision. The last thing to be taken from you was his amber eyes boring into yours.