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Being a villain is mostly about being cool. If you can't be cool, why be a villain, after all? This means you have to do things with a certain panache, and damn the consequences.
However, coolness is often the downfall of a villain. Just think about all those Batman villains. They're too cool for their own good.
The corollary of this is that when you come across a villain who isn't cool, you should really start to worry.
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Whoa! That's a pretty cool move! Definitely something I'd expect Pete to pull off. It makes a bit more sense why Rey is his character now.
Not the "reducing the relative speed" part to have no sonic boom though. That sounds like complete nonsense as it wouldn't change the speed of sound on this planet or how fast the starfighter is flying. And even Force Run or some equivalent wouldn't make that much of a difference. Even if you can double your speed to match an Olympic sprinter, that's still only a change from like 1.5% to 3% of the speed of sound.
And of course Kylo is dumb enough to try and just ram Rey to begin with. He could have used some more lessons from Snoke. The overlap between cool villains and effective villains is very easy to miss. Maybe Palpaclone can offer some advice before they get killed.
Transcript
GM: Meanwhile, the PIE fighter bears down on Rey, skimming over the sand at Mach 1.
Rey: Mach 1, you say?
[SFX]: vreeeeooooowww... {the PIE fighter bears down on Rey, skimming over the sand at Mach 1}
Poe: Sonic boom damage. That’s gonna hurt!
Rey: I turn and start running.
[SFX]: vreeeeooooowww...
GM: You can’t run away from a starfighter.
Rey: No, but I can reduce the relative speed to subsonic. No boom. No damage.
[SFX]: vreeeeooooowww...
GM: That’s not—
Rey: That’s exactly how sonic booms work. Also, running gives me +1 to Dodge and active combat manoeuvres.
[SFX]: whmmm... {Rey’s sword hums as she runs}
GM: Sure, but—
Rey: As it passes I backflip and attack a wing strut.
Rey: I roll... 19!
Rey: Make that 20 with the +1.
[SFX]: vreeeeooooowww...
[SFX]: sliiice!
Kylo Ren: Don’t I get to open fire and strafe as I close?
Rey: You were waiting for the dramatic flyby. How the cool villains do it.
GM: Want me to rewind the encounter, Sally?
Kylo Ren: ... No, dammit. He’s right.
GM: Great. I hope it’s also cool to save versus crashing at Mach 1.