Author's Note:This is one of the alternate versions of Fullmetal Jedi that I conceived. Though it makes references on the Star Wars side of things that would indicate it is a sequel to The Path of Darkness it is actually in an entirely different continuum (an AU of an AU if you will) and at this point what is mentioned in this story has no bearing on the previous one. There's also some speculation on who Snoke is, again giving homage to the SW Expanded universe, meshing what I can with the canon trilogies. There probably won't be a lot of updates on this one in the near future; I'm kind of prematurely posting it to ensure I don't give up and scrap the concept while I'm waiting for other stories to be finished. I'm also going to be posting the Path of Light sometime this summer though my attention with Fullmetal Jedi will be primarily directed towards the Path of Darkness until that one is completed.
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Chapter I: Lineage
Kylo Ren went before Snoke after he had fully recovered. He was in a dark and shadowy hall leading into a dimly lit domed room deep underground on a world outside the reach of the New Republic, or what remained of it. Snoke sat atop a smooth polished obsidian throne adorned with coal black leather cushions and a control console embedded in the right arm rest by which Snoke could activate the holoprojectors and effectively communicate and manage his burgeoning resurgent empire. Dark gray stone steps led fourteen feet up from the ground where Kylo Ren stood to the elevated platform where Snoke sat on high, lording over all who were admitted into his presence. At each of the three entrances Snoke's bodyguards, the reformed Emperor's Hand were posted both inside and out. Behind the throne the seal of the First Order was prominently displayed beneath the sole lights casting meager illumination into this den of darkness. Kylo Ren knelt down before the steps leading up to Snoke's throne and bowed his head looking to the ground.
"I have failed you my Lord." Kylo Ren confessed
"Failed? Nonsense. It was Hux and his arrogance that failed and cost us the Starkiller." Snoke replied, unmoved from his regal position above Kylo Ren.
"It is no consequence; for the ability to destroy a star system is no match for the power of the Dark Side." Snoke continued after pausing a moment to ponder the situation.
Kylo Ren raised his head allowing his eyes to look upon Snoke whose countenance seemed unchanged from the moment he walked in.
"It is this new Jedi apprentice I am most concerned about. It seems one has escaped your grasp. This has happened before; I cannot allow it to happen again. This girl must not be allowed to complete her training." Snoke declared.
"I promise you we will hunt down the Resistance and I personally will end this Jedi myself." Kylo Ren pledged as he stood up straight.
"Let it be done but not yet. This girl may lead us to Skywalker, your uncle and the last Jedi Master. When she finds him you shall strike both of them down and put an end to the Jedi Order once and for all." Snoke commanded.
"Luke's skill in the Force is renowned. Do you believe I am ready to face him?" Kylo Ren asked.
A grin crossed Snoke's face as his mind turned to another matter. "Is it true that you have slain your father? Confess and receive what is due you." Snoke inquired without answering Kylo Ren's question.
"Yes." Kylo Ren confessed. He could not lie to his master. Kylo Ren knew Snoke already knew; he had foreseen it.
"Good, by slaying your blood you have performed the last rite to joining the Sith order. I can now complete your training." Snoke congratulated Kylo Ren on this most necessary rite of passage.
To destroy something you hold dear was a sacrifice required to truly be given to the Dark Side. Vader had sacrificed Padme by his hand, Luke was intended to sacrifice Vader and likewise Kylo Ren had sacrificed Han Solo, fulfilling the purpose of which Luke could not.
"You are indeed mighty my young apprentice. The Force flows strongly through you as it did with your ancestors; however I sense much conflict within you. Let go of your pity, your compassion and remorse; give in to your anger, your hatred and your pride. Do so and truly great you shall become. You will be fit to walk in the path of your grandfather as the first of a resurgent Sith lineage." Snoke told him.
"Give into your hate, embrace the Dark Side. Only then will you be able to destroy Master Skywalker." Snoke urged him.
"Where your grandfather had failed you shall triumph. These things I have foreseen." Snoke declared.
"What do you know of my grandfather Master?" Kylo Ren inquired, almost disdainfully as he felt Snoke was speaking of something he knew nothing about.
"I knew your grandfather; in fact he was one of my pupils. That was before you were born and I was a different man then." Snoke answered, reflecting back on times past.
"If only I could have spoken to him once back then, when he was his strongest." Kylo Ren lamented.
"Alas if he had only succeeded in attaining immortality as he had desired you would have that wish." Snoke spoke softly, pretending to empathize but in fact conjuring a new insidious plan of his own.
"Immortality is a fable Master. Even the greatest among us have all perished one way or another." Kylo casually refuted the claim.
"That is not entirely correct. My presence is proof enough of that." Snoke upbraided him.
"I have heard the whispers among those who remained loyal once the Empire broke and turned on each other. I know what you are. You may have lived many lives but immortal you are not." Kylo Ren responded.
"Immortality comes in many forms. What I have attained could be considered one of them. It is far from perfect; my will must be constantly active to sustain it. Yet I will see the galaxy burn before it is taken from my hand." Snoke explained.
"If you could learn from Lord Vader I believe that this weakness, this conflict within you could be banished." Snoke went on to say.
"But that is impossible Master." Kylo Ren said.
"Have you learned nothing? If one can conquer death on this plane one can certainly resist it on the next." Snoke chastised him.
"Transmigration between bodies is quite different than bringing back the dead." retorted Kylo Ren.
"Indeed it is but perhaps there is something you can do. There is a place in which there is a great convergence of the Force. Your grandfather went there in hopes of achieving an immortal form but instead found a power quite different." Snoke said regarding events that had been largely expunged from record.
"There the spirits of the living and the departed can cross between planes of existence. Your grandfather is still out there, part of the Living Force. The darkness still dwells within him and the light has not fully overcome it. I will show you how to summon his spirit to you and amplify that seed of darkness so that your own conflict may be overcome and your hate be made pure." Snoke explained.
Snoke knew that Darth Vader's spirit could not be summoned back. It was never intended that he would do such a thing rather Kylo Ren would be expected to succeed in doing what his grandfather could not. Last time Vader had brought back a being of immeasurable power which led to a series of events that had nearly fractured the Empire. This time Kylo Ren would become that being himself. Snoke believed he had worked all the details out this time. He wasn't operating on myths and legends from forgotten tomes of Sith lore but from hard empirical evidence acquired from previous attempts. In nearly half a century of study he had delved into what could have been called a third face of the Force, neither light, dark or the grey between the two but one pervading each and all of them. From that power Kylo Ren could be sacrificed to produce an unstoppable force. A power that was ever so pliable to Snoke's wishes. One by which the First Order could reclaim the galaxy and institute a reign that was truly without end.
Kylo Ren stood resolute and stared down Snoke. A focused fervor rose in him. He had to trust his master; he had yet to be wrong about anything. "Show me Master. Grant me your knowledge and I swear I will not fail you." he declared.
Kylo Ren and a small fleet of ships traveled to the world where Vader and the former Emperor had once attempted to bring the dead back to life. Snoke had not accompanied Ren to this place, in his stead Captain Phasma and a legion of stormtroopers saw to it that Kylo Ren did everything as was planned. When Kylo Ren landed he brought Darth Vader's remains to the Sith Temple upon that ill-fated twilight world. In a ritual modified from what his grandfather had attempted Kylo Ren performed what he believed would draw Anakin Skywalker, or more specifically the aspect of him that was Darth Vader, back in the form of a Force ghost to his bodily remains. The adjustments in the ritual and in the design of the transmutation circle were of Snoke's design. The follies of the previous attempts would not be repeated. What would be summoned would not be a monster this time, rather it would be Kylo Ren returning from the plane of Truth imbued with immense power at the expense of relinquishing his free will and thereby being bound as a Force puppet to Snoke's every whim.
Kylo knelt down and placed his hands on the circle with Vader's remains at its center. He channeled his will into it and activated the transmutation circle thereby opening the Gate of Truth. A black portal opened beneath Kylo Ren and a single lidless eye opened moments before hundreds of tiny hands dragged him down into oblivion. Phasma and the other stormtroopers stood horrified at the sight thinking that something had gone wrong. Surely Kylo Ren was not intended to be destroyed in the act? Nonetheless they could not doubt Supreme Leader Snoke's orders. They had to wait and see the end result. The Gate devoured Kylo Ren only to apparently spit him back out minutes later. Alas appearances could be deceiving. The Kylo Ren that re-emerged from the Gate was a new being. This was precisely what Snoke had intended; to fashion a slave-god from the great power beyond the Gate. Phasma was relieved to see him re-emerge. She believed that perhaps Kylo Ren had communed with Vader wherever the Gate had taken him and that now he had returned stronger than ever, just as Snoke had promised.
However all did not go as Snoke had intended. Crossing between realities linked through what was known as "god's domain" via the Gate Kylo Ren's spirit was entangled with another from a different point in time, space and plane of existence. In a foolish effort to resurrect their deceased mother two brothers, Alphonse and Edward Elric were also hurtling through the great beyond at the heart of all existence. Before Kylo Ren could make out what was going on Edward was pulled out of that realm. Alphonse as well was intended to be pulled back with only the loss of the opposite limb as his brother had sacrificed. However his spirit became entangled with Kylo Ren's and neither of them could escape. They only plummeted deeper and deeper into the Truth as they were mutually deconstructed. Then an act from the outside yanked them apart sending Alphonse's soul hurtling away from Kylo Ren after having lost the entirety of his body.
"I'll give anything! Take my arm! Take the heart from my chest! Take my life from me just give me my little brother back!" Edward exclaimed, pleading with the entity beyond the Gate as he crawled over to an old suit of armor in the room where they had attempted to transmute their mother back to life.
He had an idea, it was a long shot but Edward was willing to try anything. He had already lost his mother along with any hope of ever seeing her again. He had lost his leg in that folly as well. He would not lose his brother to this. Edward planned on binding Alphonse's soul to the suit of armor, anchoring him in this world just before his body was completely deconstructed. He had to hope Alphonse's soul was not already lost to the Gate, it was the only hope he had left. Edward affixed the blood seal to the suit of armor and activated it in a last desperate bid to bring part of his brother back to him. As he initiated the binding process his right arm was deconstructed and Edward fell backwards away from the armor as it came alive. Edward weakly looked up at what he had done and noticed the suit of armor begin to move on its own.