Darkness Rises, and Light to Meet It
A towering villain sat in his chair concentrating on a mysterious feeling he had. "Officer Hovockian, put me on with my master," he commanded, walking over to kneel on a weighted platform.
"Lord Vader, have you have felt it?" the Emperor started, pronouncing every word sharply. "There has been a rude awakening in the Force."
"I have, my master. It has been getting stronger the closer I approach Hoth."
"It is not a presence I have ever felt before. Investigate, Lord Vader. I want you to bring this stranger to me. If they can be turned, they will become a great asset to us. They seem to be...unbalanced. On the edge of corruption. It should be simple for a man of your power." The Emperor took an eerie pause to recollect his thoughts. "In other events, I have every reason to conjecture that the rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star is Luke Skywalker, the offspring of Anakin Skywalker. I believe that he and this other Force-user are both hiding together. Bring them to me. If we were to turn them, the galaxy may fall to its knees."
Vader nodded and kept his head down as the hologram disappeared in front of him.
He stared down at his datapad, clenching his teeth in hatred, for his now dead admiral had come out of lightspeed too close to the planet, alerting the rebels of their presence. "Idiot," he mumbled. "Now retrieving these figures will be much harder."
Vader angrily holo-called an officer on the bridge. "Have we found any rebels out on shifts? I have heard that that droid we sent placed thermal scanners around the area."
"We have, my lord, but there are good news and bad news. Bad news is that the rebels are already fleeing and have prepared for assault. Good news, however, is that there are eight scums who were locked out whilst on shifts. Luckily, all energy in their ships were shut off to prevent us from finding them, but little do they know. One of them is not moving and alone. They all are miles away from the base."
"We can use them as hostages. Those rebel scums will not resist the temptation to save so many people in their cause. I want you to engage the planet and depart your AT-ATs and AT-STs. Any surviving rebels left behind should be brought to the prison corridor." The Sith Lord ordered, turning off the comm.
"Everything is falling into place," he spoke, turning to the window of stars. "Soon the Jedi will cease to exist. A conclusion long awaited for."
"Let me go! Let...her go!" Kylo harshly whispered in his unnatural sleep. His wrists and ankles were both in shackles whilst being locked up in an icy cell. Poe and Finn stood on the other side of the door, spectating with great interest. The two were commanded to stand guard as the Rebellion began their escape.
"What do you think he's dreaming about?" Poe asked, keeping his voice in a hush.
"It's probably one of those Force-user visions. Rey talked in her sleep all the time after she battled Kylo Ren on the Starkiller Base," replied a frowning Finn, who stood digging his boot into the snowy ground.
"Kinda weird that you watched her sleep, buddy,"
Finn laughed awkwardly for a moment, but his smile quickly faded.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just that he was our only way of finding Rey after the search pilots lost contact with Leia. If we really are in another time, Poe, and this is when the Battle of Hoth takes place, she's either going to freeze to death, get smashed by an AT-AT, or get captured by the Empire."
Poe bit the inside of his cheek, looking down at BB-8. "You're right. We have to tell someone. Maybe we can-"
"Rey!" Kylo screamed at the top of his lungs before sitting up abruptly, his body sweating. The restraints on his legs and arms snapped with the amount of energy surrounding him.
Finn and Poe held up their guns to the door in a panic. "What about Rey?" the former stormtrooper questioned worriedly.
"I think she's going to die."
The two rebels exchanged a certain look of pure terror.
"Alert! Alert! Imperial AT-ATs have been deployed south of the base! Imperial AT-ATs have been deployed south of the base! Report to your stations immediately!" an urgent voice exclaimed over the P.A.
"It's happening. Vader's coming," Poe stated.
"Vader? My grandfather?"
Poe turned to Kylo and shushed him, "Shut up! If this isn't some weird trance, we somehow traveled back in time! Letting anyone know that Vader is related to you will get as all killed!"
"Doesn't seem that bad to me," murmured Kylo Ren.
"We have to escape now. I remember hearing how lots of rebels almost made it out after the ground assault but were slaughtered by Darth Vader near their ships," explained Finn, who was now watching the other pilots take off. He instantly spotted Luke and Artoo boarding an X-wing, squinting to take in every detail.
The Knight of Ren closed his eyes, trying to sense Rey with his mind. Cold. Black...warmth. She was in the middle of the snow, yes, buried, afraid, and unconscious. "The only good news I seem to have is that Rey is alive and uncaptured, but she's slowly freezing to death."
"That seems to be the most reassuring yet alarming statement I've ever heard," commented Finn.
"Finn, a word?" Poe asked, pointing to a place away from the cell door. The two moved to the spot and debated quietly. "Do we let him come with us or leave him?"
"Well, if we leave him, Darth Vader could find him and the Empire would become twice as deadly as before. If we take him, he can locate Rey for us using those Jedi sense-tricks or whatever, and if he tries killing anyone, we'll just leave him in the snow," replied Finn.
Poe paused for a beat, making sure to choose the best choice. "We'll take him with us, but I'm not sure how we'll sneak him out without getting shot at."
"If you haven't noticed, there's literally a war going on out there right now. Everyone is too distracted fending off the base to notice us leaving. If Kylo follows our directions, I don't think we'll get caught."
Poe nodded slowly as he patted BB-8 on the head. "Alright, here's the plan…"
As Darth Vader's shuttle landed in the rebel outpost, the Sith couldn't help but wonder what this secret Force-user was capable of. Hopefully it wasn't a full fledged Jedi that would do their very best to slaughter him. Vader had had his fair share of violent fights, but now it was different. What if his son teamed up with the Jedi and they both vowed to leave him dead? Luke wouldn't know that he was murdering his own blood. Vader clenched his jaw, calming himself before his worries got the best of him.
"My Lord, we have arrived."
The doors hissed as a ramp was let down to the ground, allowing the Imperials to set foot in the icy base. The Sith felt a tingle as he sensed something he had not felt in another beside his master in decades: darkness. Someone on the base was strong with the Dark Side.
"Poe! There's a ship over here! Hurry BB-8!" a voice exclaimed from the echoes of the corridors.
Vader began sprinting towards the distressed voices, longing for hostages. He had ran through at least seven different hallways until he saw a sight he never thought he'd see: an unmasked stormtrooper with a droid helping a rogue pilot lift a Force-user into a ship.
"Halt!" an Imperial officer commanded. The stormtroopers aimed at the four, not hesitant to shoot.
Darth Vader ignited his lightsaber and began approaching them, breathing heavily.
Kylo jumped at the sight of the dark lord and fell to the ground just as the remaining three made the ship accelerate into the vacuum of space.
"Poe! Do you realize what you've done? Kylo Ren and his grandfather are going to-"
"It's a problem for another time, Finn. Right now we need to worry about surviving and regrouping with Leia and the others."
Kylo stood up as he faced the dark lord alone. "Darth Vader…" he stated, lips trembling.
"Guards, leave us. Search the base and take any survivors back to the Imperial Prison," ordered Vader. The troopers nodded and marched off in sync with one another. He studied the other male with curiosity, allowing his hands to rest on his hips. "What is your name?"
"Kylo Ren, Knight of Ren," he replied immediately.
"Your thoughts dwell on another, Ren. A girl…"
Kylo bit his lip and frowned. "She and I had a fight before these rebels took me hostage."
"I see. Where is Luke Skywalker?"
"Your son is gone. I watched him fly off with Artoo,"
Darth Vader stopped breathing for a moment as he listened to the reply. "What did you just say?"
"I said that your son is gone…" Kylo repeated, now nervous as to making his grandfather upset.
"How did you know that Luke Skywalker... That's improbable,"
Kylo Ren paused as he remembered not to mess up the timeline. If Vader found out they were related, who would know how horrible the outcome would be?
"A simple mind scan, I apologize," Kylo spoke through clenched teeth.
Vader examined him once again, taking a step forward at the sight of his mask. "Why do you cover your face, young Ren? To help you breathe, perhaps?"
"I…" he placed his hand on the side of the metal, inhaling sharply. "No, Darth Vader. I wear it to…" Kylo's voice trailed off, almost embarrassed speaking to his grandfather.
"To hide your past identity? You are a fallen Jedi from what I've picked up on," he paused. "A simple mind scan." Vader's voice had a hint of sarcasm as he took a step forward to examine the other.
Kylo nodded painfully.
"My Lord, ground assault is concluded, at least a hundred dead, thirteen hostages in chains," reported an officer, who kept his head low.
"Excellent. Today the rebellion was reminded of their disadvantage. Set coordinates to the Emperor's ship, Officer, and alert him of my arrival. Tell my master that I have a guest,"
"Yes, right away, m'lord,"
The two watched the officer scurry off before Vader stated, "Follow me, young Ren. I will present you to my master. He will be very pleased to see another one like us."
Kylo began to proceed behind him, but stopped with hesitation.
"What is holding you back?"
"That girl you mentioned before, Rey, I can still feel her presence on this planet. We must find her before the rebel scums do."
"Why is she so important, young Ren?"
"Because she is a Jedi."