11 || the spark

"THIS IS NOT HOW I EXPECTED THIS MISSION TO GO."

STAR DESTROYER, FIRST ORDER-

"Put him on board."

That was the last thing that he heard as he was shoved onto Kylo Ren's ship, other than the screams of the villagers he had inadvertently killed by bringing the First Order to their location. Not to mention the loss of his ship, and sending his droid far away from anywhere even remotely close to him.

Jakku had been a major shitshow, one of very few failures that Poe had on any of his missions.

But this? This failure was probably the worst.

It had all started when Space Girl had so hastily rushed him off of Tatooine a little over 24 hours ago, troopers on her tail. She had acted like it was no big deal, making him slug her across the face without any second thought.

After that? Poe barely had any time to breathe. The information was sent back to General Organa, along with the message Space Girl had told him about Ren's plans and how they needed to get the map before he did.

He had then suddenly been thrown from one desert planet to the next, Leia entrusting him (out of all people in the Resistance, he was truly surprised that she chose him)  to find the map to Skywalker, sending him and BB-8 to Jakku.

Jakku had been a disaster, Poe barely being able to obtain the map before the First Order came in, hot on his trail with a determination to get the map by whatever means necessary. They had killed everyone inside of that Jakku village, starting with the man who had given him the map. And, even then, he hadn't even been able to complete one of the most important parts of his individual mission- finding out who Space Girl was.

Of course, the other important part being the map to Skywalker.

Which, so conveniently, was stuck on Jakku with his droid that he had abandoned and left to wander the deserts until he found him again. And at this point, Poe was sure that he'd have to comb through that desert with a fine tooth comb in order to find his little droid again.

There was a bit of chaos for a moment in the ship that Poe had been shoved onto before he heard it roar to life, the familiar echo and hum on an engine rumbling beneath them evident. He could feel them slowly rising away from the Jakku ground, heading towards some sort of Star Destroyer base ( or he could only assume that would be where they were going), probably to interrogate or execute him for his crimes against the First Order.

Keeping his head down and his eyes low, Poe tried to notice as much as he humanely could around him. Any bit of information that he got from this whole little stunt could be useful information for the Resistance if he survived.

No, not if.

When.

Because he had to make it out. He had to get back down to his droid. Because if he didn't? The Resistance would be crushed under the weight of the First Order, and any hopes of a free galaxy would die out with the Resistance.

Poe didn't want to be the sole reason as to why the Resistance fell apart. And he wouldn't be, if he had any say about it. Because he was a Resistance pilot, and a damn good one at that. He wouldn't be intimidated by the First-

The ship jolted to a stop, interrupting Poe's semi-inspiring inner monologue, making all of the troopers stand up from where they were seated, two of them harshly grabbing his hands and forcing them behind his back. "You don't have to grab me that hard." Poe murmured, trying to keep some sort of brave face on.

His eyes were quickly drawn to the back of the ship, where the ramp was quickly lowering. The captain stormtrooper he had seen earlier was staring straight at him, their platinum armor shining brightly in contrast to the white armor of the other troopers surrounding him. "Take the prisoner to the interrogation rooms, and make sure to lock him down tightly. The interrogators will follow you in a moment, FN-2134 and FN-2180."

The two troopers holding onto Poe nodded, moving past the Captain to start escorting the Resistance pilot to the location on the Star Destroyer base that contained the interrogation rooms. Poe was then suddenly pulled off the ship, allowing him little time to analyze his surroundings.

Everything looked the same. Polished black linoleum, dull color schemes of grey, black, and white intermingled with the occasional red. Every hallway looked the same that spurted off from the Docking Bay they were at, allowing Poe no distinguishable monuments that would help him when he tried to escape.

Which, of course, was always a good sign that he was going to be able to figure a way out of this hellhole on his own.

Hallway after hallway passed by Poe's eyes, the troopers abruptly taking sharp rights and lefts, making Poe lose his sense of location. He was sure that they had already passed by the interrogation rooms, but these stormtroopers were hellbent on confusing the shit out of him. Finally, they stopped at the end of a hallway, checking the numbering to make sure that they were inside of the right corridor. Poe abruptly stopped with them, staring at the numbers, almost desperately trying to memorize them.

"Move it." One of the troopers shoved a blaster into Poe's back, forcing him to walk straight down the hallway. Most of the rooms had shut doors, nobody currently occupying them, or there was someone being held captive inside. Most of the rooms were dead silent, until they passed a door halfway through the hallway.

There were murmurs of voices inside of that interrogation room, shouts of anger being fired between two people. Poe could tell that it was a girl's voice and a man's, but he couldn't tell which was which. Suddenly, the door abruptly opened, showing a ginger general that Poe identified as General Hux.

Craning his neck to try and see the girl inside, he couldn't, but he heard the general mutter something about "Ren needing to go and handle the situation inside of that room." Whoever that woman was inside of there, he hoped that they weren't Resistance, and were just someone from one of the First Order's planets that was being disrespectful to their authorities.

The troopers escorting Poe started to chuckle a little bit when he tried to see who was inside, forcing him forward another two cells before stopping. One scanned their card to allow entry inside, while the other stood and held Poe so that he wouldn't escape.

"Resistance scum, always so nosy about the intergoings of the First Order." The trooper holding the card to let them into the room scoffed, watching as the door slid open in front of them. "Can't seem to mind your own business, can you, pilot?"

Poe just gave a vacant stare back at the troopers, arching an eyebrow at them. "At least I'm not forced into the path I chose." That earned him another rifle hit to the back, and he could tell that he pissed the two of them off.

Because they had been stolen from their homes and trained for this life without a choice.

"I heard the girl next door was just like us. Trained to be a weapon, but defected to try and help the Resistance." The other trooper spoke up, dragging Poe inside of the interrogation room. "Look where that got her, that magical ability of choice."

Those words stop Poe as he's dragged into the room. It feels as if all of the air in his lungs suddenly left his body, his legs ready to give in on himself. There's only one person he knows inside of the First Order to have ever contacted the Resistance and still is alive today.

And it's Space Girl.

He had hoped desperately that she would escape and not ever get found out by the First Order, that he would eventually be able to rescue her like a hero inside of the ancient legends that had been passed down across the galaxy.

But he had been wrong.

He had been so wrong.

And now, the young woman was being tortured- for fun? Information? Poe had no clue why, but he knew that for whatever reason it was, it wasn't good. And the outcome that she would escape was very low, and the chances of her being executed by the First Order so much higher.

Now the stakes were higher in this neverending mission.

Now Poe had to escape not only for him and for the map that was stuck back down on Jakku, but he had to escape to rescue Space Girl, and make sure that she got back to the Resistance. Poe was certain she would be the key in getting ahead of the First Order, and finally getting close to taking down the evil regime that had risen from the Empire's ashes.

Dazed and shocked by the information, Poe didn't even notice as he was forced into the standing restraint chair ( if he could even call it a chair, it was almost like an operating table that stood up straight ), restraints placed upon his legs and arms. It wasn't long after that he was locked into this contraption that the stormtroopers left, and who he assumed was the first interrogator walked into the room.

His expression rapidly hardened, his eyes glazing over with a steel gaze on the person who walked in. His jaw locked into place  as he watched the interrogator come in with a snide look on his face. By the interrogator's side was  a droid, a probe droid, and some other weapons that Poe was certain he will use against him to try and get the information about the map out of him.

But Poe knew every tactic in the First Order's book, whether it be intimidation or brute force in an interrogation. He was trained inside of the methods of interrogation when he first joined the Resistance, one of the most important rules being that if you ever were captured you'd keep your mouth shut.

He's not going to let the First Order get anything out of him.

Poe had no idea how many hours had passed inside of the small room he had been trapped in. All he knew were how many of these interrogators had come in and out of the room, and that number was currently standing at 4.

Which was a pretty good count, by his standards.

There were new bruises and cuts littered all across his face, something to show for him keeping his mouth shut. But Poe didn't care. As long as the information he was working so hard to keep a secret stayed with him, and he got to it first, that was all that mattered.

He just had to keep himself together until the Resistance noticed he was gone and sent a rescue mission, or he found a way to escape this hellhole by himself. He hoped one of the two options would arise soon, as he was getting rather tired of the whole interrogation bit.

However, when the doors to the interrogation room opened up again, someone Poe did not expect suddenly breezed in through the doors, bringing an ominous new aura to the room as they stared at him with a curious yet deadly look.

It was Kylo Ren.

Poe just stared at him as he watched the man make his way to the corner, sitting in one of the chair-bench things that the First Order interrogators were allowed to sit upon. The First Order sith lord in training just sat there and stared at Poe for a couple of moments before the Resistance pilot found his voice.

"You gonna talk or are you just going to sit in the corner and psychoanalyze me for another hour?" Poe fired the comment, earning an almost amused scoff from Kylo Ren. He watched, expression slightly molding to one of fear (as much as his face could express, as it had been beaten up so badly) as Ren got closer to him.

There's a moment of silence, Poe feeling some amount of pressure mounting inside of the room as Kylo Ren still inspected him like a lamb ready for the slaughter. It felt like an eternity before what Poe had said finally got a response. "I had no idea that we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board. Comfortable?"

As Poe stared at the man in a mask for a few moments, trying to formulate some response, his battered lips seemed to have a mind of their own as they scoffed back at Kylo Ren. "Not really." He squinted his eyes as much as he could at Ren, trying to find some way to insult the coward of a man.

"I'm impressed." Ren continued, not even bothering to listen to Poe's response to his rhetorical question. "No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map." His head cocked curiously to the side as he walked to become face to face with the Resistance pilot.

"Might wanna rethink your technique."

Those words were a mistake as soon as Poe spoke them, and he knew it.

Kylo Ren said nothing in response, instead reaching out his hand to him. Suddenly, Poe felt immense pressure around him, the air suddenly leaving his throat as Ren force choked him. Every moment was agony for Poe, but he knew that he could not give up the information that Ren desired so much.

He had to do it for the Resistance, and for Space Girl.

"Where is it?" Kylo snarled, impatient with the results that he had been getting from Poe. He pushed harder, allowing Poe to not even have the chance to reply, the mangled sounds of the Resistance pilot attempting to breathe the only sound inside of the room.

"The Resistance will not be intimidated by you."

Kylo pushed even harder, patience thinner than a wire. "Where is it?" He pressed through gritted teeth, barely holding back with his powers. Screams soon filled the room as Poe lost his ability to see straight, the sith lord in training satisfied with the hurt that he had brought upon the man. He let his grip go, instead giving a somewhat surprised chuckle.

"You've made a good show of yourself, I'm sure of it. It's not everyday that you find out that you have a man who's actively made one of their own best weapons turn to the other side has such a stubborn passion for the Resistance."

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Poe uttered out, barely able to keep his eyes focused on the Sith Lord in training, feeling the man slowly walk closer and closer to him. There was an intense look from Ren, almost questioning if Poe had a death wish.

"I'm sure you do." Kylo Ren quickly fired back at him, turning his head to the side ever so curiously. "I've seen the inside of your mind. Your intents, desires, foolish hope-" He spat the last part out at the man, almost making Poe flinch. "But it's a shame you had to go and push your rebel cause onto one of our best."

There was a moment of silence, the pilot realizing who he was talking about, everything in his mind clicking after a few moments of contemplation.

"And now it clicks for him." Kylo Ren almost mocked the Resistance pilot, clicking his tongue in almost laughter. The man had turned away from him, hands tucked behind his back. It was the pose of a man who thought victory was soon coming to him- but Poe wouldn't let him win so easily.

"It was easy to tear into your mind the second you walked in here, although you keep the contents of the map well hidden. It is rather funny how these things can come along, isn't it? You just so happening to find the map and being the person who turned  one woman who knows all of the secrets of the top of the First Order against us."

"Maybe you shouldn't abuse your weapons then. I've seen the way you treat her, would your mother approve of that?" Poe dug into a place where it stung for the man, Leia revealing to the elite of the Resistance who Ren was, allowing them to know where his weak spots lay. She told them of her mistakes with him, and how they had led to Kylo Ren. So, of course, Poe had to hit him where it hurt. He had just done the same to the Resistance pilot, might as well return the favor.

It was at that moment that Poe saw Ren snap.

"Listen, Resistance scum, I'm going to give you two choices.  My patience wears thin, and I'm tired of these petty games. Give me the location of the map, or your precious Space Girl dies. It's your choice." Kylo Ren whirled back around to face Poe, snarling as he barely was able to speak in his fit of rage.

"I'll give you an hour, and when I come back, I expect to know an answer. Or I'll decide for you."

With those words, Kylo Ren stormed out of the interrogation room. The noise of his footsteps matched the sound of a young child stomping up to their room after a fight with their parents, the noise echoing in Poe's mind.

But the most worrisome thing in that moment for Poe was that he had no idea what he would choose...

Space Girl or Skywalker?

<~•~>

hi and welcome to quarantine with ash

this first week was one of many, considering my whole state is on lockdown. so what does it mean for all of you?

MORE UPDATES!

hopefully...

anyways, I think you all know where this story is going now, and that's into the force awakens! I'm so excited to see what happens next, and I can't wait to see your reactions to everything that continues to happen!

alright that's everything, I hope you enjoyed!