Hi all, sorry for the gap between chapters, I was attending my great-grandmamas 100th birthday weekend. Safe to say, it was a bit of a mad one (picture a cantina band complete with cake, fighting, gambling and drinking - a typical British party). Anyway, back to the main story, hope you like where this is going! As always, I really do appreciate your reviews, dear reader!
Chapter 4 - Punishment
The rest of the journey was tense, to say the least. The General sat upright, coiled and venomous, waiting to strike. The Apprentice on the other hand slept fitfully, apparently haunted by more bad dreams. But he couldn't relax. Hux clutched Ren's lightsaber where it lay nestled safely inside the soft felt pocket of his coat. Asleep or awake, Kylo was always in some kind of dangerous mood, and he reasoned that if he could use the Force to levitate heavy objects while unconscious, he could definitely operate the light weapon. And on such a small ship, one of his legendary fits of destructive rage could prove a disaster - whether conscious or not.
So when the shuttle finally arrived on the small grey planet, Hux could not disembark fast enough, and almost jogged down the short landing ramp to where two attendants stood awaiting his orders. Following him out a short distance behind emerged a tired looking Ren, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He limped a little, clearly favouring the leg unmarked by the lightsaber wound, but thankfully, he was dressed and somewhat presentable. Hux made short work of shouting commands, ensuring the safe docking of his expensively furnished spacecraft.
"Careful, you idiots!" he spat - the mechanics had almost allowed his precious ship to collide with a gaggle of repair droids that were crossing the hangar.
While he was occupied with berating the officers in charge, another small group of elite storm troopers emerged from the bowels of the base. They moved with purpose towards the ship, paying little attention to the hustle and bustle of the busy port. By the time Hux had everything in order and was satisfied with the parking of his ship, he turned to see Ren already being frogmarched out of the hangar.
A frown creased his face and he pursed his thin lips.
Odd.
Adopting his customary menacing stride with clasped hands behind his back, to dissuade any curious onlookers, Hux discreetly went after them on the pretence of inspecting the base. Presumably Snoke had been notified of their arrival and had sent for his apprentice, but this definitely wasn't standard greeting protocol. It almost seemed like a hostile arrest. He had to find out what was going on.
The General followed the small platoon down a series of winding tunnels, keeping out of sight. Not that storm troopers ever really turned around. He made a mental note to add a new lesson on observation skills to the training regime of new recruits.
He wondered why Ren was letting this happen. Usually he reacted with barely concealed fury at the slightest provocation or questioning of his authority. Now, he was being led like a bantha to the slaughter by a bunch of his own underlings, his head drooping. As they marched further from the hangar entrance, the walls of the tunnels morphed from steel panelling to a rough rock face, and the floor sloped ever downwards. Usually, Hux went straight to the command hub or private barracks when on a mission - he had never gone this deep into the planet before.
The white-helmeted soldiers halted before an imposing metal door set back into the rock. One of them spoke briefly into his communicator, and with a grinding sound, the double doors slid open. One of them roughly shoved Kylo Ren to the front, and pushed him through. The doors clicked shut behind him.
Sithspit.
His curiosity thoroughly piqued, Hux backtracked, retracing his footsteps until he found himself on a slightly higher level. He swiped his access card on the nearest door pad, and to his relief it opened for him. He navigated several winding corridors until he found one that he estimated to be roughly above the floor below. Hux ducked into what appeared to be a storage room full of old electrical equipment and partly constructed droids, and found what he was looking for. A grille, set into the floor, designed to circulate air into the stuffy rooms deep underground.
Grimacing at his crisp uniform touching the dusty floor, he knelt down next to the panel, and peered through. It was his lucky day! Hux could see the black-clothed figure of Kylo Ren kneeling in supplication at the feet of Snoke. The Supreme Leader was rumbling something, Hux couldn't make the words out, but it radiated cold malice. He shuddered. Rather Ren than him.
Although it was rather fun to watch his rival being punished like a naughty youngling. It almost made up for the ungrateful little swine trying to murder him so many times during his long-suffering rescue mission.
He watched as Snoke shot out a large clawed hand and gripped Kylo around the neck, and with his other, pressed it against the young man's forehead. Writhing, his apprentice appeared to be trying to resist, but without success.
Hux winced as muffled screams began to filter up through the air vent.
Enough was enough. Satisfied, he stood and stretched, brushing the powdery sand from his dark trousers. He'd wasted enough time already - Captain Phasma would be wondering where he was.
As soon as they landed on Snoke's bitter little rock, Kylo could feel the waves of his mentor's wrath rippling through the Force. He wondered how the thousands of storm troopers could possibly stand it. Although there was something a little more subdued than usual about their movements, like tiny ants dimly aware that a boot was coming, and vainly working harder to accomplish their meaningless tasks.
Ren had barely stepped out of the ship before he was seized by a small group of elite troopers. Normally he would have simply blasted them out of his way, but he wanted to conserve his energy for the confrontation with Snoke he knew was coming. He allowed them to march him through dark tunnels, growling a little when one had the temerity to prod him in the back with a blaster - "Know your place, worm!", but his heart wasn't really in it. As he approached the intimidating metal blast doors, a wash of sudden fear flooded through him. His blood pounded in his ears and he dug his heels in a little. All too soon, the doors rasped open, and he was pushed through.
"Ah, Kylo Ren. I was beginning to wonder where you were."
If the sight of the doors had been enough to make him deathly afraid, it was nothing compared to sound of the dispassionate baritone which made his very soul shrivel into a tiny, fearful little knot.
"Master. Forgive me. We were delayed." He said, falling to his knees in front of his looming master.
"Of course you were. Starkiller Base was destroyed utterly, and millions of your followers are dead. But, I trust you have good news that outweighs this?"
Snoke was toying with him, like a Loth-cat toys with a Loth-rat. They have their way with the helpless creature until it is frantic, and then break its tiny spine in half. But they like to prolong the fun as long as they can - a dead Lot-rat is a dull Loth-rat.
Watch me squeal, Snoke.
He stood, and said in a stronger voice, "I killed the rebel scum, Han Solo, and the deserter FN-2817 too, Supreme Leader." He bowed his head, dark hair concealing the nervousness in his brown eyes. "I also duelled with the female from Jakku, and almost bested her. She is strong with the Force, and managed to resist me, this time."
"She resisted you! An untrained, untested scavenger girl from a dusty, insignificant, junk planet?" Snoke's ridged grey mouth twisted into an ugly sneer.
"Untrained, yes. But incredibly gifted - such raw power! And very angry. She has a touch of the Darkness about her, my Lord. We could still make use of her." He pleaded, lifting his eyes to scan Snoke's face for any hint of forgiveness.
"Perhaps…" The tall, gaunt alien paced towards Ren, his ragged robes swishing against the dusty floor. "Or perhaps you are falling back into the Light, my apprentice. You are only young, after all. Yes! I see it. You are soft on the girl. Your weakness betrays you."
Kylo cringed in revulsion. "No, master! I have nothing but contempt for the girl. I was only thinking of the First Order, and the future victories she might bring us."
"LIES!"
With a snarl, Snoke lunged forward and seized him by the neck. Kylo simultaneously felt a spike of intense thought assault the walls around his mind. He weakly threw up a few barriers around his innermost thoughts, but he couldn't fight the brutal onslaught of the Force-assisted psychic attack for long. Snoke's mind uncoiled inside his own, like the thorny tentacles of a predatory Sarlaac.
Immediately, his master seized upon his most recent memories, and began rifling through them. Flashes of the duel with the girl from Jakku, the exploding planet, his dying father stroking his face, the limp girl in his arms as he fought his way off Takodana, the nightmares, the nightmares, the nightmares, flickering before his eyes.
Snoke is deeper in his mind than he has ever gone before in his years of training, obviously a punishment for his transgressions. Memories aren't designed to be read by uninvited recipients, and Snoke had to use more force to claw his way in. Kylo dimly realised he was screaming.
Let us put a stop to this girl nonsense. Time to focus on your mission.
He couldn't tell whether it was him or Snoke speaking, but he could feel his master doing… Something… to his memories. It burned. He was altering them somehow, and, oh, gods, it felt like his brain was on fire. Then, finally, Snoke slithered back out of Kylo's violated mind, satisfaction radiating from their psychic link before it broke. As it snapped, he fell to the ground, untethered, severed from his master's poisonous umbilical.
"We will finish this tomorrow, Ren. Now get out of my sight."
Crawling, stumbling, limping, he hurried from the room, the booming voice echoing in his ears. Once in the bright, clinical safety of the corridor, Kylo collapsed again. He vomited, leaning against the rough stone wall, trembling, sweating. Tried to calm himself. Threw up again. Stumbled back out along the undulating corridors, the long wobbling rooms, falling against the walls, until he reached his private chambers. Ren slammed the doors closed after him, and slid down the wall until he slumped in a gangling huddle at the foot. He tried to enter a meditative state to relieve his agitation and mental pain, but couldn't pull his bruised thoughts together for long enough. He blacked out completely.