The lift doors slid open and revealed an surprisingly unostentatious throne room. There was red tapestry on the walls. The black throne and the lack of ornament were a stark contrast to the gaudy golden robes Snoke was wearing. Rey straightened herself and made her way towards the brightly lit centre of the room. Kylo Ren walked right behind her like an uncanny shadow. She could feel his gaze upon her and a cold shiver ran down her spine.
Had she misjudged his capacity to redeem himself?
Finally she stopped in front of Snoke's throne. Upon seeing his face closer she suddenly felt dizzy, something about him was … wrong. His face wasn't just asymmetrical and scarred. He looked like a badly crafted puppet, his fingers too long and his neck too thin.
"Ah … the scavenger," he croaked.
"As you commanded, Supreme Leader," said Ren and took a knee.
"Guards, leave us," commanded Snoke and the red-clad praetorians strode out of the room. She spotted Luke's lightsaber on the armrest next to Snoke. Rey clenched her fist – this was her chance to strike down Snoke! This was probably why Ren had brought her here in the first place, so that they could get rid of him together!
As soon as the door closed behind the guards she lifted her hand and willed Luke's lightsaber to come to her. But it was grabbed mid-air by Ren, Rey frowned. What was he- He glared at her, a mocking smile on his lips.
She gasped. "Ben …"
"Did you think you could turn him, little sparrow?" sneered Snoke. "I feel his every emotion, know his thoughts. My apprentice knows that I'm his better."
She gritted her teeth in anger. "You're just an old man – I'll-"
"Silence!" commanded Snoke and with a gesture her throat was tightened to the point where she couldn't speak anymore.
"Why do you think I wanted to capture you? You're of course strong in the Force, but in the end you're nothing, just a common nobody – something to be moulded into something greater."
Rey called upon the Force and tried to break free, but Snokes hold was too strong. She frantically tried to remember Force techniques Luke had taught her, but the rising panic made it hard to focus.
"I'm dying, my body is betraying me," continued Snoke. "But my mastery of the Dark Side will help me, all I need is a new vessel. Good thing one walked just right in."
"No," managed Rey to whisper, dread creeping into her heart.
"Time to cage a little bird … Now hold still, the ritual is a delicate matter," said Snoke. He stood up from the throne and raised both his arms in the air.
Rey was lifted up, she wanted to scream and to rage, but in the end she remained frozen by Snoke's power. Angry tears started to run down her cheeks – it couldn't end like this! Not like this!
Snoke started to chant something in an unknown language; it sounded guttural and dark.
Minutes dragged on, Rey was getting cold. She tried to focus, to draw on the Force, but she felt more light-headed than before, couldn't focus.
From the corner of her eye she saw Ren staring at her. The usual vulnerable expression on his face had disappeared, he just glared at her. Cold, calculating, cruel.
She was now freezing, Rey felt like she couldn't breathe, she started to pant. She tried to inhale as much air as possible, but with each breath of air she felt like drowning … something oily and heavy was filling her lungs. Suddenly she could feel another presence in her mind.
It wasn't like the telepathic bond she had with Ren. No, Snoke was here – inside her. She coughed and retched but it didn't help. Her very essence was pushed out of her own body.
She tried to fight, to push back. But it was in vain. Slowly, very slowly she lost the feeling in her feet and her fingertips.
Suddenly she could see herself hovering in the air, Snoke stood in front of her, still chanting. Rey floated above her own body. Ren was still kneeling, but she saw how he reached for his lightsaber. She screamed but there was no sound, only the creeping chanting. Ren smirked; with one quick strike he activated his weapon and impaled Rey's body.
Snoke shrieked, both from his own mouth as from hers and fell on the ground.
Rey was floating further away towards the door, unable to move on her own. Was it her or was the light in the room dimmer now? She reached out to her impaled body and tried to will her way back to it, but nothing happened.
She thought she heard voices but she couldn't determine from where they were coming. She felt how she was getting weaker, would she float until her spirit dissolved? No! She would fight until the last moment! There had to be something, anything she could do!
The doors slid open and somebody rushed into the room. Rey felt how a living being passed through her and she gathered all her remaining strength and took hold.
The dizziness was suddenly gone and she was wide awake. The next thing she registered was that Ren was standing in front of her. He glared at her with a hatred she had never seen in his eyes before.
"The scavenger girl killed the Supreme Leader."
Before she could stop herself, she blurted out: "What?" Her voice sounded deep and strange.
She lifted her hand and saw that it wasn't her hand at all – it was larger hand in black leather glove. Rey gasped and before she could process what she saw the Imperial guard rushed past her and surrounded Ren.
She looked up again and saw a cruel smirk on Ren's face. He ignored the guards and slowly walked to the throne. Then he sat down on it and said: "Guards, clean that up."
They only hesitated a split-second before they grabbed Snoke's and Rey's body and dragged them out.
Rey followed the uncanny process with her eyes. Again she stared down on the hand, she clenched it in an attempt to ascertain if it really belonged to her.
"Don't even think about it, General," said Ren. "I'm in charge now!"
She jerked her head up and met Ren's stare. General?
"Leave now – I'm certain you have something else to do instead of staring at me."
Rey wanted to stay, to fight him. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. No, she had to find out what had happened. Ren obviously didn't recognize her, she had to play for time.
She turned on her heel and strode out of the throne room. She felt Ren's gaze on her back and shuddered a little.
ooOOoo
As soon as the lift doors closed behind her, she exhaled and looked down on her – she was indeed wearing a First Order uniform with an overcoat. She reached up to her face and touched it with her fingertips. She flinched when she felt sideburns.
By the stars! She had indeed possessed some First Order officer! She started to feel nauseous and closed her eyes. Suddenly the lift stopped and the doors slid open again. Automatically she stepped out of the lift and found herself in an empty corridor. The dark floor was so polished that she could almost see herself in it. Her features were of course distorted but she saw the red hair and sucked in her breath.
It was him – the pale red-headed military leader of the First Order: General Hux. Yes, Ren had called her 'General' … her mind worked fast. Nobody seemed to notice that Hux wasn't himself anymore, at least not yet.
She straightened herself, she had to think, to analyse the situation. What the kriff had happened? She had no idea where she was and what to do next. She wanted to scream in frustration, but she pulled herself together when she heard footsteps approaching.
Two Stormtroopers walked down the corridor and saluted when they passed her. Before she could decide if she was to return the salute they had already vanished. Rey realised that she couldn't stand around, she had to get her bearings as fast as possible. She scanned the corridor with her eyes and saw a security panel a couple of meters away. She almost jogged to it and cursed under her breath when she saw that it was locked.
She found the weak spot in the plating quickly and pulled her black glove from her right hand. With finesse and fingernails she managed to pry one piece of plating away. Sweat was running down her temple when she finally managed to cross the appropriate wires to circumvent the lock out.
Rey looked around, a mouse droid scurried around her. She focussed on the screen and pulled the ship schematics up. She memorised the position of the bridge and the hangars. But she looked in vain for the general's private chambers where she could find some peace and quiet to think about her next steps.
A shrill beeping interrupted her thoughts and she realised that it came from her left wrist. She pulled back the overcoats sleeve and saw a wrist-holo. She activated it and a figure in a metallic armour appeared.
"General, we caught infiltrators – FN-2187 is among them. I thought that might interest you," said the woman.
Finn! She blinked and cleared her throat. "Excellent, I would like to see him- them personally. Where are you?"
"Hangar 31. They were working with a slicer, but he sold them out."
"I'm on my way."