Chapter 1 - Fateful meeting
It was snowing that day. The wind was even colder than the snow. The two of them fought. Their lightsabers clashed repeatedly and he was gaining the upper hand. Then, suddenly and most surprisingly, she somehow mustered enough strength to not only push him back, but to utterly defeat him and scar him. Kylo Ren could still not get over it. He had been beaten decisively by someone with no prior training in using either the lightsaber or the force. He was ashamed. Only thinking about it made him burn inside like a volcano and tremble in anger. Supreme Leader Snoke had reprimanded him for his failure and General Hux was able to increase his prestige and gain the favour of Snoke.
Since that day, he had trained a lot. He would practise his swordsmanship every day for many hours nonstop and thus his mastery of the lightsaber improved a lot. But he was quite aware that simply improving his fighting prowess was not enough to win back the favour of Snoke and compete with Hux. In order to achieve this, he needed someone who could scheme effectively and advise him on how to take on Hux and beat him in his own field; that of political manoeuvring. But where could he find such an adviser? Old Jack, as he was commonly known, was the person to whom people usually asked such questions. At least, those who had the money to pay for his services. Information is gold and old Jack exploited this to amass a fortune. Ren had to pay him tens of thousands of credits to get an answer to his question.
Ren was in Jack's Manor and was waiting in his hall for Jack to come with the answer to his question. Jack was a Gamorrean. Gamorreans were referred to by quite a lot of people as 'pigs' and had a reputation for being somewhat dumb, but Jack was pretty smart, much smarter than a lot of humans. Not to say that he was far richer than any human. Ren could not help but smile when Jack arrived at the hall, as he would at last get his answer. The hall of Jack's Manor was huge and magnificent, with the most luxurious carpets on the floor and walls made out of pure gold. When Jack walked into the hall, he was being accompanied by a most beautiful woman dressed with a long purple silk gown decorated with the most precious gems. She was Naira, the most beautiful woman in all the galaxy. She was a translator hired by Jack to convey his answers to his clients. Like the hall, the translator Jack had hired was aimed to awestruck and impress all those who met him.
Ren was most anxious to hear the answer and quickly greeted Jack and Naira. "I am most glad to meet the both of you."
Jack said something in his tongue and Naira translated. "Master Jack says that the man you seek is Adams Sunrider. He is the brightest advisor one can find a-"
"Where can I find him?", Ren interrupted.
"In Hoth. He is living in a cave, waiting for the right master to hire him. If you get him to help you, he will make you the most powerful person in the First Order."
"In which cave?!"
Naira smiled. "That is up to you to find."
Ren had command over thousands of Stormtroopers, so it would not be much a problem for him to find the cave. But he did not want to use those troops in his search, as he wanted to hire this advisor without notifying Hux. As such, he would have to go in person to Hoth, all alone, and rely on the Force to guide him. Being most impatient to begin his search, he hastily bid goodbye to Jack and left as fast as he could. When he returned to his flagship, the Star Destroyer 'Finalizer', he immediately went to bed and rested, for he knew that he would have a lot to do.
The very next day, he was piloting his command shuttle and heading for Hoth. The shuttle had its wings extended was armed with twin heavy laser cannons and advanced sensor suites. Ren had not taken anyone with him, as he wanted to keep the search for Adams as secret as possible. His official excuse for the trip to Hoth was that he had some intel about a Resistance base being located there. As he was piloting, he was constantly thinking about who that Adams could be. Being the best advisor in all galaxy (at least according to Jack), Ren expected him to be of impressive stature. His thinking was interrupted by a ringing sound which signalled that he had reached his destination.
His shuttle landed on the icy plains of Hoth. Somehow, maybe through the Force, he had a feeling that Adams was located somewhere in the north-western part of Hoth and thus it was there where he had landed. Even though he was wearing his suit, he could feel the chilling cold. How could anyone be living in such a desolate and cold place, he wondered. It seemed impossible to him that anyone would choose to live in such a place.
"Now, where am I going?", he wondered. "Left or right? North or south?"
He followed his instinct and walked to his left. He was walking for a few hours amidst a snowstorm which made him chill and tremble before finding a cave. "Is this it?", he asked himself. "Or have I been just wandering aimlessly all that time?"
He walked slowly into the dark cave. As he was walking deeper into the cave, the light was diminishing. Thus he activated his lightsaber so that he could at least have an idea on where he was walking. He walked further into the cave and saw a man sitting besides a fire. The man was frail and weak. His face was pale and he was constantly coughing. He certainly did not seem like the advisor Jack was talking about. Ren was sure that this man he found was someone else. But who else would be waiting all alone in a desolate cave in the chilling coldness of Hoth?
Ren approached the man but before he could ask him who he was, the man talked. "You must be Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren."
Ren was surprised that the man instantly recognized him. "You are..."
"I am Adams Sunrider.", the man replied, with a smile on his face. Looking closer at the man's face, Ren could see that he was actually quite handsome, despite being pale. He was also somewhat young, being in his thirties.
"If you know my name, then you should know why I have come here.", Ren said.
"Of course. You want me to be your adviser and help you outmanoeuvre General Hux."
"Indeed. Will you help me?"
Adams thought about it for a moment before replying. "You are the one for whom I have been waiting for so many years. So how can I refuse to help you?"
Although Ren had never before seen Adams, he somehow felt familiar when he was around him. He could not explain why, but he seemed to immediately trust him. "Then please follow me to my shuttle."
Adams got up and the two of them walked out of the cave. The weather had actually gotten worse than before and it was even colder. Adams coughed constantly and vomited blood. Ren quickly helped him stand up and, with genuine concern, asked, "Are you all right?"
"Yes.", Adams said. "I am sorry that my health causes you to worry."
Ren was not sure himself if he was worrying about Adams because he needed him to beat Hux or because he really cared about him. The more he looked at him, the more he reminded him of someone he knew from the past. But he quickly dismissed those thoughts. The one whom he was reminded of was a warrior of unsurpassed strength while this man was frail and ill. Seeing how Adams was weak and fearing that he could not withstand a march through the coldness of Hoth, he said to him, "I will go back to the shuttle on my own and land it somewhere near."
"Thank you for your efforts."
It was the first time since he fell to the dark side that Ren was being so nice to someone. Ren did put a lot of effort in bringing Adams to him but he was sure that it was worth the trouble, for he could use him to eliminate his rival and gain complete control of the First Order. Once this task was accomplished, he could focus on beating Rey and taking revenge for the humiliation he had suffered.
