Here's my first attempt at the Star Wars Fanfiction/Fanon. Please be aware that I am not a major SW fanatic and that my main source of knowledge and information is what I see on TV and DVD and Wookiepedia. Now, before I begin, I want to make a few edits:

First: this fanfic is to be seen more along the lines of the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: Rebels" CGI cartoon TV series, not a live action film. The reasons: (a) I don't know how long this is going to end up being, so making it into a "moive" format might not work and (b) I needed an excuse to give Kylo Ren Matt Lanter's voice. So, I'll be adding "voice casts" before I start each "episode". If you don't know who each person is, look it up on Wikipedia.

Second: I'm deageing Kylo Ren to a 22 year old, because he looks like he's in his 20s (to me at least) and, on the off chance this becomes a Reylo fic, I personally don't think a nineteen should be going out with a thirty year old.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and do not profit from this story in any way, shape, or form. All rights go to George Lucas, Disney, the people they hired to made all the movies, TV shows, games, comics, and any other material that tells the Star Wars story. All I'm doing is taking their characters and put them in a situation based on how I hope their fictional lives turn out to be. Also, I will be inserting Author's notes to "direct" the music so, if you wish, you can use your iPod, iPhone, laptop, tablet, or any other means to access your music or Youtube, I don't own those music pieces either.

Fair warning: here there be spoilers. On, on with the "show":

Cast:

Matt Lanter: Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, Anakin Skywalker (archive)

Anna Graves: Captain Phasma

Mark Oliver: Von Ren (OC), various Stormtroopers

Sam Witwer: Supreme Leader Snoke

Steve Blum: various First Order officers

Dee Bradley Baker: all Clone troopers (archive), various Stormtroopers

(Line break)

[Cue Star Wars Opening Scroll music]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED

Episode 1: Ghosts of the Past

One who forgets the sins of the past is doomed to repeat them in the future.

Chaos in the cosmos! After the destruction of the Hosnian system by the First Order, the regional governors of the remaining Republic systems struggle to retain democracy and control the growing panic. At the same time, the First Order finds itself equally weakened in the wake of the destruction of Starkiller Base.

Four months following his humiliating defeat against the traitor stormtrooper Finn and the Force sensitive but untrained Jakku scavenger Rey, Kylo Ren finds himself in limbo between Supreme Leader Snoke's favor and disgust. As a last hope for redemption in the eyes of his master, the Master of the Knights of Ren embarks on an investigation of a series of thefts that not only hamper the First Order's return to power but also have possible links to the last of the Jedi…

[End opening scroll music]

(Line break)

As the Finalizer came to orbit over the moon Nar Shaddaa, Kylo Ren recalled a memory of his uncle telling a younger, more innocent version of himself of the now Jedi's first visit to Mos Eisley and how his first master called it the most "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Then Han Solo, who had happened to be visiting, chuckled and made a snarky comment about how Kenobi had obviously never set foot on the moon Ren was currently viewing from the bridge's windows. Now, after all these years, Ren saw the truth in the now deceased smuggler's words.

There, before his very eyes, was the moon both the First Order and the New Republic used as a template of what happens when there is no government to manage a civilization, or at least no lawful government. Even Maz Kanata's watering hole was cleaner and more civilized then the entire moon. After decades, if not centuries, of Hutt and Black Sun involvement, the already unforgiving moon was reduced to a sordid criminal's wasteland paradise stained by blood, alcohol, spice, and other solids and fluids that he didn't want to think about. To survive meant to turn to a life of crime, whether as a stupid, abused henchman or as a heartless, tactless, and tasteless crime lord. There was no law and therefore no law enforcement, not that it would do the moon any justice. There were only two options to save the Smuggler's Moon from itself without blowing it up: gas it like the Empire did to Anoat or take the combined strength of the Grand Army of the (Old) Republic, the entire Imperial and First Order militaries, and all the Rebellion and Resistance fighters and have them kill everything that moved on Nar Shaddaa. Other than that, the population was beyond saving.

Kylo's thoughts were interrupted by the presence of Von Ren, an older and equally feared Ren Knight. The man was a foot taller than the Master Knight and much bulker, his body ripped with bulging muscles under his dark and ornate armor; covering Von's face was a helmet rumored to be made from General Grievous' faceplate as well as bits and pieces from an ancient Sith warrior's helm. Kylo, on the other hand, wore the same simple armor he always did, albeit with a new helmet similar to his old one but with no damage and with an eye piece similar to one used by Imperial scout troopers.

"Our spies indicate that a ship bearing similar markings to the one we're looking for landed in the western corner of an abandoned Imperial shipyard," Von reported, his voice deepened slightly by the voice modulator in his helmet similarly to Kylo's, "I've taken the liberty of sending my squadron to investigate. If they don't report in twelve standard minutes, then we can confirm the thief's there and bomb it."

"Twelve minutes?" Klyo inquired, raising an eyebrow, not that anyone could tell, "That's not nearly enough to search the entire area."

Von chuckled and explained, "Considering that we are looking for Jedi, I'd say twelve minutes is generous."

"We do not know whether or not this thief is a Jedi. Only that it is possible the thief can use the Force."

"The Supreme Leader may have named you Master of the Knights of Ren, but you still have much to learn. Any Force sensitive or user that is against us is a Jedi," Von spoke with passion, clenching and unclenching his fist as he spoke, "And even so, these worthless Stormtroopers are nothing more than saber fodder, as are all untouched by the Force are."

Von turned to face the window and concluded, "The destiny of all untouched by the Force is to be used as our slaves and thrown into trash compactors and rancor pits when they become dead or useless."

"I'll be sure to tell Hux that, the next time he tries to threaten me," Kylo replied and began to walk away.

[Cue first fifteen seconds of "Battle of the Heroes"]

He got no more than a few feet when Von said, "You know, I've met Vader once, when I was an acolyte for the Inquisitors, made the mistake of lying to his face and ended up in the med-wing for a month. I never knew he had love interests, let alone a family."

Klyo stopped in his tracks, his body unable to hide his shock for a moment. But then he regained his composure.

"Many people did not know, and many still don't," Kylo tried to dismiss Von's words, "What is your point?"

"I find it interesting you glorify a man who betrayed the Empire in the worst way possible, whatever his reasons or intentions were and that you happen to share his blood, no matter how diluted it is."

The shorter Ren Knight paused. Four months ago, Klyo Ren would have attacked without warning, doing everything in his power not only to kill Von but to completely destroy him. But with his failure on Starkiller Base came a small amount of wisdom: never overestimate yourself nor underestimate your opponent. Unlike the other Ren Knights, Von weld a double-ended gyrating lightsaber of which he was a master of. And he was the finest dualist of all their order; challenging him would be suicide.

"Despite his one mistake, he is still one of the most powerful Force users ever born and both one of the greatest Jedi Knights and Sith Lords ever trained," Kylo finally but calmly answered, "His name should be remembered with honor, not contempt. I'll pretend you didn't say anything otherwise."

If Von had anything else to say, he had no opportunity to as an officer drew their attention to the controls, "My Lords, one of our troopers are trying to contact us."

"See?" Von smirked, "Not even ten minutes."

Kylo ignored him and ordered the officer, "Patch the trooper through."

The officer nodded and operated the communication controls, allowing the message to be heard on the bridge.

"This is SW-5477 reporting! We need back up…," a husky voice was speaking between static breaks, "… too many… SW-2180 and SW-2583 are down and I don't know about… Augh!..."

"Trooper, report!" the officer ordered, only to be answered by static, "Trooper!"

"As I have said, nothing but saber fodder," Von told Kylo then ordered the rest of the officers, "Prepare all cannons, destroy the faculty."

"No," Klyo countered, "Ready my ship. I shall see to this myself."

"Yes, Milord," another officer bowed and began preparations.

Klyo turned to face Von, sure that if the Ren Knight hadn't been wearing his helmet, he'd look at the younger knight with a face of suspicion and doubt.

"If there are a multitude of attackers, then it means someone other than Skywalker and the Resistance seek to bring the Jedi back," Kylo explained, "And I want to know who they are and where to find them. If I am not back in two hours, continue on with your plan."

"Understood, sir," Von venomously replied, though for some reason, Kylo sensed some delight in Von, most likely from the knowledge that he would replace Kylo if the latter should fail.

The young Ren Knight shook off any suspicion, took his leave, and went to his ship. Kylo Ren was not entirely truthfully to Von, there was another reason for this move, to win back Snoke's approval. As he meditated on his ship, his helmet to his side, his mind replayed their last conversation:

Ren was sparring against several BX commando droids, his crimson blade deflected incoming blaster bolts as his body barely avoided the strikes of the knife wielding ones. Apparently, Snoke had at least three of these droids programmed to use Jedi-style techniques.

"You lack intuition in your attack. You are second guessing yourself, allowing your fear to cloud your judgement and make mistakes," Snoke lectured, watching the fight from the side lines, "If this was a real battle, your enemy will take note and use your mistakes to destroy you."

"Yes, Master," the young man nodded and used the Force to push the blaster wielding droids against the wall, deactivating them, then focused his attention to the knife wielding droids, holding his saber more tightly.

Quickly changing his footing and taking a defensive stance, he parleyed the three droids has they slammed their phrik coated blades onto his saber, trying to break his guard, but Ren refused to give in. One droid used a Form IV fighting style and was easily dispatched. Another was using a dueling version of Form V; that one took ten minutes and a gash on Ren's right shoulder to take down. One remained, and it executed Form III perfectly as it came close to cutting Ren down to size many times.

This fight was taking too long for the Supreme Leader's liking, his patience wearing thin, so he instructed, "Stop relying solely on defense. You must act, not react; by passively defending yourself, you are only prolonging the inevitable. You are a focal point between the Light and the Dark side of the Force grounded in the Dark, why are you not using your anger and your hatred? Have you not listened to anything I taught you?"

Ren heard his master's words and felt his disappointment, changing his stance to Form VI and charged the remaining droid. The droid fought back, but its fighting style greatly sacrificed mobility for power, a fact Ren was well aware of during his time under both Luke and Snoke. As the droid lifted its knife over its head, Ren let loose a yell and round kicked it in its midsection, and before the droid could recover, Ren switched to Form VII and sliced the droid from the left side of the neck and down to the right side, ending the battle.

Ren turned to face his master, deactivating his lightsaber and removing his helmet and revealing his scar and a longing for approval in his eyes. His master appeared unmoved.

Then, he finally spoke, "Your lightsaber skills are improving, I will grant you that. You may have won this time, but this is only a training simulation, and would be much, much different in reality. If this were a real fight, only common soldiers, apprentices, and inferior Jedi would fall by your hand, while masters like your uncle or prodigies like the Jakku girl will simply wear you down and then kill you. If you wish to fulfil your destiny and eradicate the Jedi, you must take the offense, make your enemies rout at the mere sight of you. Defense will be useful every now and then, but it cannot be a priority, unless you want your enemies to have the advantage."

"Forgive me, Master," Ren bowed his head, "I was just trying to avoid repeating what happened on Starkiller."

"That seems to be a reoccurring issue with you for the past two months. Ever since your failure at the hands of that girl, you've grown overcautious and full of self-doubt. Yes, your temper needed an adjustment, but not at this price. Your father's death should have made you stronger, instead, you are as weak as when you first came to me! I named you Master of the Knights of Ren because I thought you were strong enough to control the others, that you were worthy of being my true apprentice, but now all I see in you is a worthless boy pretending to be a mighty warrior. Pathetic!"

Ren cringed at his master's words, feeling the dark entity's fury through the Force, knocking him off his feet.

Snoke calmed down a bit and spoke again, "But you still have potential. Therefore, I'm giving you a second chance."

"Of course, anything," Ren replied, then cringed again once he remembered who said that before.

"There has been a series of… setbacks hampering our return to power. A thief has discovered our supply lines and has taken the liberty of relieving the transports of all their wares. Von Ren is already investigating, but I feel he could use some help."

"What does a lone thief have to do with me?"

"The most recent report gives us evidence that this criminal has a great deal of knowledge in using a lightsaber."

A chill went down Kylo Ren's spine, he could literally count on ten fingers how many non-Force sensitives and users could use a lightsaber, but they are all either dead, crippled, retired, or working for the First Order. And with his uncle and the scavenger parsecs upon parsecs away, there should be no suspects.

"How is this possible?" Ren asked, "All the Jedi from Skywalker's academy were killed five years ago."

Snoke replied, "How matters not. What does matter is that these thefts must stop and you, Kylo Ren, must be the one to stop it."

"I will not fail you."

"I should hope not. If you do, if the thief is allowed to continue his transgression, there will be no where you can run, no where you can hide, no one left to protect you. Fail and you can join your father… in HELL!"

Kylo Ren returned to reality with a start, panting heavily and sweat beading his forehead.

And "commercial" break. Stay tuned…

R&R