II

Dark Deeds of the Past

Kylo Ren sat in his quarters, hovering over the warped mask of his grandfather, Darth Vader. He closed his eyes and started whispering his daily words.

"Grandfather, help me cast out the light. Help me welcome the darkness and make me strong. The scavenger girl... help me kill her and Skywalker. If you are there, Grandfather, give me a sign." As usual, there was no response to his pleas. Just the burnt-out eyes of the mask staring directly into him. He thought that the gaze was always judging him, that it could see through his soul and determine his character. Kylo thought that today, the mask disapproved of him. Therefore, he resolved to work extra hard to murder the scavenger and Skywalker.

A chill passed through the room. Kylo glanced over his shoulder, then turned around abruptly. There stood a man, entirely cloaked in blue. His long hair cascaded down his shoulders, and a look of disapproval was plastered on his face. It took Kylo a moment to realize that the man was not actually there. He was a ghost.

"Who are you?" Kylo asked. The ghost shook his head and spoke.

"You do not recognize me? I am the man you pray to every day. The Jedi Knight corrupted by the very thing he sought to destroy. The monster who tore the galaxy apart. The savior who was redeemed by a son's love. I am Anakin Skywalker, and I have a problem with you, Ben Solo." The man crossed his arms.

A few seconds passed before Kylo spoke up: "Grandfather?"

Anakin continued talking. "Your 'Master' is playing you, Ben. To him, you are a tool. Should you become blunt and dull, he will cast you aside and replace you."

"No" Kylo said. "My Master would do no such thing. I am valuable to him. Useful." And yet, in some part of his mind, he agreed with that statement.

Anakin only shook his head. "Fool. It has been the way of the dark as long as it has existed. Palpatine did it to me. I do not doubt Snoke would either."

It took whatever little self-control Kylo had not to fly into a rage. He clenched his teeth together. "Shut. Up."

Anakin extended his arm. "Come back to the light, grandson. I can feel your conflict. Let go of your hate. Return to your mother, she misses you dearly.

"I have no mother or father." Kylo said. Anakin looked down at the floor.

"Then you are truly lost. There is no more I can do for you. Goodbye, Ben. May the Force be with you." Anakin started to fade away. On a whim, Kylo reached his hand out towards him.

"Wait! Were you truly Darth Vader?" he asked. Anakin vanished from the room, but Kylo could clearly hear his grandfather's voice echo.

"Yes, but Vader is dead now. Only I remain." And with that, the room fell silent. The only sound was Kylo's breathing. His comlink chirped, breaking the silence. He yanked it off his belt and clicked it on. "What it is?"

"My Lord" Captain Hano, the Finalizer's head of command, spoke. "We are now orbiting the planet. Our scanners are picking up a lone ship. It's identified as a YT-class-"

"Corellian Cruiser. I am familiar with the ship, Captain." He spat the last word, sensing the officer's fear. "What is the status of Captain Phasma?"

"My Lord, Captain Phasma is ready with her troops and awaits your command."

"Place her squadron on my command shuttle. I will arrive shortly." Kylo snapped the comlink off and replaced it on his belt. Leaving Vader's mask behind, he strode out of his chambers and back into the turbolift. Nothing would stop him. Not today.

It felt to Rey that they had been trudging over rocks and avoiding lava beds forever. Just then, she stopped, Luke right behind her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I feel... something ahead. Something... dark. Ahead in the city." she replied, feeling a sense of dread wash over her.

"Go on ahead" Luke said, sitting down on a boulder. Rey turned around.

"What about you, sir?"

"I am an old man. My days of adventuring are far behind me. Go on. Let me catch my breath, and I will meet up with you in a few minutes. Until then, may the Force be with you."

Rey nodded. "And with you too, sir." She trudged on ahead to the top of the hill. She stood on top of some sort of metal floor. Rey looked down at Luke upon his boulder, then continued on. With every passing step, the coldness of the Dark Side grew stronger and stronger until she thought she would vomit. Rey approached a strange-looking door of some kind. Using the Force, she pried it open and stepped inside.

It led her into a wide spacious room with computer consoles on every wall. Two large holoprojector tables rested in the middle. To Rey, it looked like a command center that hadn't been used by somebody in ages. As she stepped into the center of the room, a powerful ripple in the Force caused her to bend over and just about throw up her meager lunch.

When she looked back up, several different creatures of exotic races were standing around, garbed in ornate clothing. She had never seen much variation of races before, not all together in one place. One skittered her way on wings. Rey reached out to touch him, only to see her hand pass through him. Off in the opposite corner, a black-robed man entered the room. Whatever conversation the creatures were in immediately ceased. One of them, a green-skinned humanoid in a red smock, turned towards the black-robed man and spoke:

"Welcome, Lord Vader. We've been expecting you."

Vader. Vader. Where had she heard that name before? Rey desperately racked her brain trying to remember where the name Vader had come from. The black-robed man waved his hand and Rey heard the door slam close. With a chill, she remembered who had mentioned the name Vader.

It had been Kylo Ren.

The black-robed man activated his lightsaber, and with a dawning horror, Rey realized that it was her lightsaber, the one Maz had given to her. In a flash, the man jumped over the holoprojectors and began cutting down anybody standing in his path. Rey caught a glimspe of the man's face and saw that he was crying. A few short seconds later, the humanoid who had spoken first was the last one standing. He cowered in fear as the black-robed man strode over to him.

"Lord Sidious... promised us peace... He promised-" The humanoid never finished his sentence. The black-robed man beheaded him with a single stroke of the lightsaber. His head flew across the room and landed at Rey's feet, its dead, red eyes staring into hers. The black-robed man looked directly at her and Rey saw that his eyes were a fiery gold color. She had never seen so much hatred in a person's eyes, not even Kylo Ren's. Rey backed up and bumped into something warm and solid. She raised her hand to her mouth and bit down on it to stifle a scream. Turning around, she saw Luke standing behind her. He waved his hand. The bodies and the black-robed man dissipated into the air like a mist.

She looked up at him, eyes wide. "What... what..." she repeated over and over again, mouth like a broken holorecording. Luke sighed as he stepped into the middle of the room.

"What you just saw was the massacre of the Separatist leaders, an event that marked the end of the Clone Wars, and the total fall of Darth Vader." Luke said, as though he were reading from a history textbook. Rey noticed that he said the name Vader with some amount of affection.

"Who is Darth Vader?" she asked. He cringed slightly.

"He was... my father, Anakin Skywalker. A Dark Lord of the Sith, Sidious, played on my father's fears of losing his wife. Sidious led my father into believing that if he turned to the Dark Side, he could save my mother."

Luke sighed. "It didn't work out like that. In a rage, he killed my mother, on this very planet. After battling my Master, he was mortally wounded and required a life-support suit. I believe Kylo Ren has his mask. Years later, after terrorizing the galaxy as Sidious' right hand man, he was redeemed by his son, the last Jedi, and died an honorable death."

Rey shook her head in disbelief. "And how do you know this?" Luke smiled slightly.

"I asked him."

Just then, another tremor in the Force caused Rey to once again double over and nearly vomit. She wiped her lips and recovered herself.

"What is it?" Luke asked, concern written on his face.

"He's here. I can feel Kylo Ren's presence close to us."

"We must make haste then, and find this battalion of droids before they do" Luke responded. Rey strode over to one of the consoles and began dusting it off.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked.

"If these Separatists owned the droids, perhaps they left some clue on their whereabouts in these computers" she said, tapping several keys. After sifting through some text (which was incredibly hard to read), she found that an elevator on the far side of the complex led to a restricted area. The computer could give no more information on that particular area, and demanded for an access code. She turned it off and directed Luke to the door from which they came.

"This way!" she said, and the two Jedi left, heading for their objective.