Keep your eye on the generals. Snoke gave him those words of advice early on. The politicos can make trouble with words and the business types can make trouble with credits, but the generals make trouble with bombs. And that's the worst sort of trouble. No accountant ever pulled off a coup, Snoke warned.
And that's why Kylo is in the Rim this week. He's keeping an eye on his generals.
With the war over, his challenge has been to keep his military busy and keep its commanders vying with one another for promotions. It will not do to have his ships idle and his ambitious generals with too much time on their hands. That will only foster a conspiracy.
His solution has been to task the First Order fleet with police duties ostensibly in the name of law and order. Star destroyers now patrol hyperspace lanes for pirates and smugglers, filling the gap that local system authorities lack the resources and the jurisdiction to address. He has also created a most wanted list for organized crime henchmen and turned his forces loose to bring them in dead or alive. Local systems have long been outgunned by the deeply entrenched, wealthy crime syndicates like the Hutts and the Pikes. But not the First Order fleet. They are more than a match for the drug cartels and smuggling rings that plague the galaxy. And whereas local officials might turn a blind eye to criminal elements in their midst in exchange for bribes and protection, the First Order commanders will not. Knowing the ruthless competition among the ranks, Kylo made a game of it. He assigned prize money to each name on the proscription list. The unit that brings a target to justice gets to split the reward. But more importantly, they get bragging rights to others.
So far, this ploy has been working well. It's helping to clean up the Rim worlds and make space travel safer overall. It's making his military goons the good guys for once. All in all, it's a win-win for him, his citizens, and his military. But Kylo knows this strategy won't work for much longer. So, he's been careful to make plenty of unsolicited and unannounced visits to keep up the oversight on his military.
Kylo might not be the most self-aware person, but he knows he lacks the goodwill and respect that Snoke had. His Master spent years stroking egos and funding pet projects to buy political and military influence all over the galaxy. Those allies had personal and political allegiance to Snoke. Very little of that appears to have transferred to his successor Kylo Ren. Kylo knows that he is judged too impulsive and erratic by some. His motives are suspect and the circumstances of Snoke's death are sketchy. Plus, the years Kylo spent as Snoke's extra-military enforcer questing for Luke Skywalker have him far too distinct from the armies he now purports to lead. It makes things ripe for an insurrection if the right leader was to emerge.
Armitage Hux is the obvious man to try. Hux is a true believer in the First Order but Kylo doesn't trust him farther than he could Force-push him on a bad day. Plus, with his blowhard rhetoric and visibility to civilians and troops alike, Hux is far more popular than he himself is. That's why Kylo immediately appointed Hux to be Senate Chancellor. Now, Army Hux is safely ensconced in a do-nothing role as a permanent figurehead. But he's on the nightly holonet newsfeeds almost daily and he can speechify to his heart's content. That strokes his gargantuan ego and keeps Hux happy even though he lacks any real power. It was an inspired solution that could turn out to be an answer for other potential would-be rivals. Kylo has begun toying with the idea of additional civilian appointments for other senior military commanders.
But that can wait until the dirty work in the Rim is through. Kylo's crackdown on inter-system crime is long overdue and it's become one of his more popular initiatives that even his detractors can get behind. More than anything, Kylo wants to be a leader who gets things done. He's no ideologue. He's more pragmatist than anything.
He plans to bring efficient order where democracy let chaos long bloom. He will clean up the incessant crime and persistent poverty in the Rim. He will weed out the rampant corruption and public complacency of the Core. He will bind the galaxy together with new trade routes, more hyperspace lanes, and system-spanning economic development projects. No longer will local sectors create fiefdoms and monopolies to corner markets and raise prices. Slavery, in all its various legal guises, will finally be abolished on all worlds. In time, the Rim outposts will enjoy the same gleaming, cosmopolitan prosperity as the Core worlds. Opportunity will no longer depend on who you are, where you are from, and what species you are born.
Most of these goals are not new ideas, and quite a few of them originated in the Republic. But like most of the good ideas that arose after the Empire fell, they languished. Stalled in the tortuous series of legislative hurdles that the New Republic constitution required. It was all designed to protect the sovereignty of individual systems. But in practice, it meant galactic level government was woefully inadequate and slow. Entrenched business and crime interests knew the best techniques to bury legislation in years of committee meetings. The few meaningful laws that were enacted quickly became the target of legal challenges to delay their implementation. Everything got bogged down under endless due process. It was all a lot of talk and too little action.
The rhetoric of democracy is great, Kylo knows. It's the real-world experience of democracy that is disappointing. Because the unfortunate truth is that the will of the people often results in bad choices. And even when good choices are made, they take far too long to implement. Democracy works on a system level, but it doesn't work for the galaxy as a whole, Kylo long ago concluded. There are too many competing interests and too many difficult problems to solve. And there is too much lack of consensus on the issues between the Rim and the Core. Decentralized power and a ridiculously large New Republic Senate meant nothing ever got done.
And that was fine if you lived in the well-run, fully developed Core. But if you lived in the Mid Rim or the Outer Rim, chances are you suffered. It's true that power abhors a vacuum. And so, in these far-flung areas, crime syndicates and business interests assumed the mantle of leadership. It had predictable results, for no one was looking out for the public interest. That meant the common man struggled. As the years wore on, these citizens grew more and more disenchanted with the empty promises of the New Republic. Some joined the First Order to take up arms for their cause, but most remained on the sidelines a silent majority of sympathizers who watched and waited for the war to be over. Kylo knows that these people largely disagree with his methods but they agree with his big picture goals. The First Order needs to win these people over if he is to govern peacefully long term. And that means he needs to show results. But people are impatient. And the free press absolutely hates him. Already, the citizenry has become skeptical. There is an awful lot of grumbling these days.
All this responsibility gets him down, very down. Being Supreme Leader isn't all it's cracked up to be. And so, once Kylo has shown his face and his sword a few times during a tour of the Rim fleet and the major Rim garrisons, he heads to Mustafar. No trip to the Rim is complete without at least a quick stop by his grandfather's castle.
He's here to collect a new sword for Rey from Vader's personal collection. He plots to impress her by presenting it as a peace offering. Kylo keeps trying to find ways to empower Rey through giving her a Senate position and more financial and personal security. But she doubts his motives. That's not surprising, but it is frustrating. Can't she see he's only trying to help her? He's hoping she will respond better to something tangible like a weapon. A sword might even rekindle Rey's interest in the Force, he hopes.
With the sword selected, Kylo checks the time and decides he can spare an hour in meditation. Usually, he floats in the Force when he spends time at Vader's castle. This place is unusually attuned to the Force. Plus, the deserted world of Mustafar has no other lifeforms to disturb his focus. Coruscant, with its billions of inhabitants, requires absolute discipline for true concentration. But here there is no need to block out others. It is easy, almost effortless, for Kylo to sink very deeply into the Force. And when he drifts like this at Mustafar, inevitably the World Between Worlds beckons.
Sure enough, there it is. A Force portal that leads to another life in another time. It teases him with possibilities. And Kylo accepts the offer.
He walks through the portal and the first thing he notices is that he is handcuffed. Tightly. He looks down in dismay at his hands poking out from a loose brown tunic to be encircled in military grade binders. What he sees causes him to blink. His right hand is mechanical in this reality. Great. There's a story there. And what's with his sandy boots? Is this Tatooine again? Because he hates sand.
No, this isn't Tatooine. Looking around, this reminds him of . . . Nah, it couldn't be. But it is. The Death Star. And wait—is this Death Star I or II? Because all things considered, he'd rather be on the replica version without the trench run friendly design flaw. But if this is Death Star II, hopefully it's completed. Because if Uncle Lando blows this thing up while he's on it, he'll be pissed. Kylo doesn't know if he can actually die in the ephemeral World Between Worlds, but he'd rather not find out.
Still taking stock of his surroundings, Kylo glances around at the squad of stormtroopers who guard him. There's also a dour faced Imperial captain at his side. He's in custody, obviously. But why?
Up walks his uncle. He has both his hands, Kylo notes sourly. Looking like a younger, fitter Count Dooku, this middle-aged version of Luke Skywalker is cleanshaven without the Jedi beard. He's dressed in tailored black with a three-quarter cape hanging about his shoulders. His uncle wears an expression of extreme annoyance. That much looks familiar. The rest of the look is jarring. Yellow Sith-eyed Luke Skywalker looks him over with distaste.
The captain snaps to rigid attention and salutes. Then, the man hands his uncle a very familiar blue lightsaber. "He was armed only with this, my lord."
My lord? Whoa, this is weird and getting weirder by the moment. Whatever happens in this reality, it's sure different from his own, Kylo judges.
"Good work," creepy Darth Luke nods. Then, he commands, "Leave us."
He and his uncle are alone now except for the red robed Imperial guards who flank the door they stand outside. "I've waited a long time for this moment. Your meddling ends today," his uncle informs him smugly.
Kylo says nothing. His Force attuned sense are on high alert. Because when two Skywalkers walk into a Death Star throne room, all bets are off. Chances are one of them won't walk out alive.
"Come on. He's waiting." Luke motions to the door and it opens.
With a deep breath, nervous Kylo steps forward into the dimly lit audience chamber. The sepulchral atmosphere only adds to his unease. He has no idea who's he's meeting and what the dynamics of the situation are, but he's the one in handcuffs and that doesn't portend well.
His uncle follows on his heels. Luke Skywalker is the Apprentice enforcer in this version of events. He stands at the back of the room by the door with his right hand resting on his saber in a silent threat.
Kylo stands alone in shackles all by himself. He's sweating now with anticipation. He really has no idea what's going to happen next.
The chair on the high dais is swiveled away facing the giant observation window, so Kylo can't see its occupant. Is this his grandfather? Could this be Palpatine? Perhaps even Snoke? The list of possibilities is pretty short. But if this is Darth Maul in his criminal guise ruling the galaxy like he ruled Crimson Dawn, law and order Kylo Ren is going to be pissed.
Finally, after a long moment of deliberate suspense, his host speaks. It's a croaking baritone that betrays advanced age.
"Welcome young Skywalker. I have been expecting you."
The chair swivels to reveal none other than Darth Sidious himself. The Sith Emperor mastermind looks like a shriveled old crone, so damaged is he from misuse of the Force. This guy makes Snoke look pretty, Kylo thinks to himself. All the official photographs of Emperor Palpatine on the holonet were clearly very airbrushed. And probably a good thirty-five years younger at least.
Darth Sidious flashes a satisfied smirk. It's clear he is relishing this moment just like his uncle. "I have waited a long time for this moment, Jedi."
Jedi? Wait—what? He's the Jedi in this reality? What sort of fuckery is this? Kylo is chagrined to find himself on the Light Side. Damn, he's glad this isn't his actual reality. He'd be a terrible Jedi. For one, he's far to interested in girls. Well, mostly in Rey.
Sidious now addresses his uncle in the back of the room. "Well done, my good and faithful Apprentice."
Luke nods his acknowledgment and Darth Sidious turns back to him. He leans forward slightly on his throne as he warns, "By now you must know that your uncle can never be turned from the Dark Side. So it was with your grandfather. All the Skywalkers must join me or die."
Uh oh. This isn't good. But maybe if he just agrees to join up with Team Sith, Kylo plots, all will be fine. And if he has to kill his uncle as the current Apprentice to take his place, he's okay with that. Any reality in which he gets to kill his uncle is a good reality, Kylo decides.
Luke Skywalker speaks up. "He was found on Jakku. At the observatory."
Ah . . . that explains the sandy boots.
Darth Sidious is visibly displeased.
"He saw the relics. He saw the map. Master, he knows," Luke Skywalker reports ominously.
Knows what?
"Does he know what he has found?" Palpatine now directs the question to him. "Well? Do you, Jedi?"
That's his cue. Uncomfortable to be on the hot seat, Kylo hazards a guess. "The Unknown Regions." He knows from searching the Imperial archives for information about the whereabouts of his hiding uncle just how obsessed with the Unknown Regions Darth Sidious and Darth Vader became. Palpatine must have been seeking to expand his Empire. Apparently, ruling the known galaxy was not enough. To plot navigational strategies into the great unknown expanse of space, the Empire constructed observatories in remote systems to monitor its probe droids. And, Kylo now knows, there is an observatory on Jakku of all places.
It's a good guess. Kylo is correct.
"Unknown does not mean empty. Do you know what's out there, Jedi?" the Emperor probes.
Kylo shrugs and smirks. He's playing the defiant captive now. "Gravity wells. Black holes. That sort of thing."
"All that and more. It's not what is out there that concerns me, so much as who is out there." Sidious raises a skeletal forefinger now to admonish. "It was I who sent Lord Vader on his quest. I knew that he plotted to overthrow me. I foresaw his attempt. So I let Vader construct the castle on Mustafar. I let him dabble with relics. I knew he could not wield the Dark Force so deeply without gaining his notice. And sure enough, he noticed." Palpatine's eyes narrow as he warns, "He always notices. He is very vigilant."
Kylo isn't following any of that speech. He still has no clue what's really going on.
"Give up looking for Lord Vader. He's never coming back. I sent him like a lamb to the slaughter." Sidious looks every bit as devious as his reputation in this moment. "Your grandfather is dead if he's lucky. If he's not, then he wishes he were dead. Three hundred years he made Revan suffer. Others have met similar fates. You'll be tortured and dead too if you go looking for him. He will leech your power for himself. Dark Side, Light Side—it matters not. He does not distinguish between the Force."
Darth Sidious stares him down now. "Tell me, Jedi, does he call to you too? Is that what brought you snooping on Jakku?"
When Kylo doesn't answer, Sidious rises from his chair. He moves slowly as he descends, speaking all the while.
"Does he tempt you with Darkness? Does he praise your bloodline? Herald you a son of Darkness made in his own image? He is the ultimate narcissist. The only thing he loves more than power is himself. Don't think that because of who you are he will let you live."
The hairs on Kylo's neck start to stand on end as Lord Sidious continues. This is all becoming uncomfortably familiar, and that makes it even more confusing.
"Does he want you to finish what he started? Does he tempt you with immortality? Only the young want to live forever. In maturity, Jedi, you will know why. One life is enough."
Kylo swallows hard, wishing he had never stepped through the portal on Mustafar. Because he remembers a voice that called to him when he was young. A voice that haunted his dreams on and off for years before he understood what it was.
"Well?" Palpatine demands with impatience.
Kylo keeps his silence. He's trying hard to make sense of what he's hearing, searching in the Force for insight. Why has the Force brought him here to this reality? What is the message to be gleaned?
The Sith Emperor is clearly enjoying his confusion, thinking he's scoring points. "Does he promise to bring your parents back from the dead? It's true, he can do it. But don't bother. I'll only kill them again. They will suffer a second time. Skywalkers only get to live if they bend to my will." This boast rubs Kylo the wrong way and Palpatine sees it. "Your grandfather bent his knee to me. Your uncle calls me Master. But you stubbornly refuse. You have too much of your mother in you. And you know what happened to her."
Suddenly, Kylo understands. He doesn't know the details, but the big picture is clear. "You're afraid!" he accuses. "You're afraid that you will never be as strong as—as-"
As Snoke?
Snoke?
Dare he say the name aloud?
When Kylo hesitates, Palpatine jumps in. "Young fool," he drawls. "I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten. Even if you could somehow find him, free him, and return, you will lose. For I have the ultimate power in the universe." Darth Sidious gestures about them to his Death Star. "Oh, I assure you I am perfectly safe here. You, however, are not." With a glance behind him at Luke, Sidious now decrees his fate: "I already have my new Vader. I have no use for you. Prepare to meet the Force, Jedi," he announces as he raises his hands.
Fuck, he's not messing around. Darth Sidious starts shooting Force lightning with a vengeance. It nails Kylo and sends him to his knees.
Ouch. It hurts. It really hurts. But it's nothing like Snoke's lightning.
Actually, it's not even close to the power and pain of Snoke's Force lightning. And that gives Kylo new courage. Gritting his teeth, he struggles to his feet, swaying for balance with his hands still bound. Sidious pauses his onslaught a moment as frowns. Apparently, this is not the reaction the Sith Master was hoping for.
And that just eggs Kylo on. "That's all you got?" he sneers at the Darkest Sith the universe has ever known. "That's it?"
He can do this, Kylo decides. He can take this guy. He might as well try. He's a Skywalker and members of his clan don't die easily.
Kylo concentrates a second and his cuffs fall away. Then he stares hard at Darth Sidious and summons his own Darkness. Kylo might be a Jedi in this reality but he was the Apprentice in another life. He's the Master slaying, galaxy ruling Supreme Leader Ren. Hux and the media might mock him, but he's the real fucking deal and a Skywalker to boot. And long ago as a young, completely innocent Padawan he accidentally summoned the Dark Side in self-defense. It created a shockwave that destroyed his friends. In a great irony, that unwitting act ruined his life even though it saved it. But years later, Kylo still remembers that trick. With a moment of supreme concentration and a quick prayer to the memory of his Sidious slaying Sith grandfather, Kylo Ren lets loose. Take that, you prune faced asshole who treated mighty Lord Vader like shit. In his reality, Darth Sidious died at the hands of a Skywalker. Kylo is determined that will be the outcome in this version of events as well.
The ripple of blue energy that emanates out from Kylo is like an earthquake in the Force. It twists steel. It breaks bone. It ruptures flesh.
At the door, the red robed guards crumple before they can cry out.
Behind him, his glowering uncle staggers and falls.
Before him, standing the closest of all to him, frail Lord Sidious gasps and flails before he falls prone.
It is over in a matter of seconds, leaving Kylo depleted but standing. He looms over his tormentor, the heretofore menacing Sith Emperor. Now on his back, staring up in amazement, Lord Sidious croaks out, "It's you . . . It's you . . . You were the one all along . . ."
Huh? "What?" What is he talking about? Well, who cares. Time to finish the job. Kylo raises his hands and prepares to shoot some Force lightning of his own.
"He felt that. He will hunt you. He will find you," Sidious gasps out. "He who controls the Chosen One controls everything in the end. Run, boy, run . . . "
Those words stop Kylo in his tracks. Darth Vader was the Chosen One who destroyed the Sith. At least in the version of this story that Kylo lives in. But poor Vader died before he could balance the Force. That part was left undone.
"You are the Sith'ari," Sidious hisses. He gasps out words that grow progressively more faint. "Our prophet has finally come! Make us stronger! Fulfill your destiny! Find him and kill him and you will be the one."
What the fuck? If Sidious is talking about Snoke, then Snoke is dead. Kylo already killed him. He got the Darth Maul special, cleaved cleanly in half. And since Snoke was no Zabrak who could survive such an injury, Snoke is dead. Kylo took the time to launch the remnants of Snoke out the Supremacy airlock just to be sure.
Glancing over at his presumably dead uncle face down on the floor and then over at the dying Darth Sidious, Kylo decides he is done with this reality. Forget finishing Palpatine off. All this cryptic prophesy talk is freaking him out. So Kylo does what he did the last time he pulled that shockwave Force trick: he panics. Kylo runs right back through the portal.
Seconds later, he is back on Mustafar in his own reality at his grandfather's castle retreat. Kylo heaves a deep sigh of relief.
This is a haunted castle, he decides. Haunted by 'what if' possibilities that contrast sharply with life's deepest regrets. It's times like these that Kylo feels terribly alone. How he wishes his Sith grandfather were around to give him guidance and support. To explain these mysteries. To teach him leadership. To put the Force in perspective. Kylo has no one who can relate to his experience now but Rey. And Rey has sworn off the Force. He's made progress with her but there is still a long way to go.
But at least that's over. Sometimes the World Between Worlds is too much. Every time Kylo exits back to his own reality, he swears to himself that he will never enter the portal again. But then . . . a few months later . . . curiosity and loneliness get the better of him and he ventures into the unknown again.
As usual, Kylo ruminates over his experience in the aftermath. What did that mean? In the absence of a teacher, Kylo looks for answers in the Force. There is meaning to everything, Snoke used to teach. So . . . what was the meaning of that? Who was Darth Sidious so paranoid about and why? Could it really have been Snoke?
In Kylo's own reality, Snoke hid in the Unknown Regions as a minor Dark Side Force user with incredible wealth. His Master was a shadowy figure whose backstory didn't quite add up. When questioned on discrepancies, his explanations weren't quite lies but they were dissatisfying all the same. Kylo would learn one fact about his Master's past and it would shift the mosaic of information a little. But it never quite came together into a cohesive tale. And that's how Snoke wanted it.
Snoke's encyclopedic knowledge of the Force far outpaced his actual power. It didn't match his claims to be a self-taught Force user. But most intriguing of all, Snoke had the private, behind the scenes, word-of-mouth history of many Jedi and Sith. Luke Skywalker hadn't known one tenth of Snoke's knowledge about Darth Sidious and his uncle had actually met the Emperor. And it didn't stop there. From Master Yoda to Master Syfo Dias, Snoke knew both the big picture history and all the juicy dirt going back generations of prominent Force-users. Truthfully, old Snoke was something of a gossip.
Outwardly, his old Master claimed to admire Palpatine and his Empire. And maybe that was true in some respects. But Kylo long ago realized that Snoke's First Order was an opportunistic play to rally the disgruntled, marginalized Imperial exile elites. The remnants of the Empire had an axe to grind against the New Republic and that made them easy to manipulate. In addition, they readily acquiesced to the idea of Snoke as a replacement for the Dark Side strongman Emperor Palpatine. With an open checkbook to finance a new war machine, Snoke said and did all the right things and easily slid himself into the slot as leader. A few Vader chokes and some lightning were all it took to impress the laymen of the Force.
The First Order leadership didn't know what Kylo himself came to realize in time: that Snoke was far more brains than Force. He was simply a rich guy with some Force sensitivity who had amassed so much wealth that he had grown bored and turned to something new. Instead of pursuing credits, he decided to pursue power. Snoke became as ruthlessly strategic about conquering the Republic as he had once been about business. But the trappings of his luxurious life as a private citizen still remained: the flashy clothes, the flashy ship, and the relaxed bon vivant personality that could morph in an instant into ruthless cruelty.
Snoke wasn't a proper Sith and he disavowed ever being trained as a Jedi. He mostly disdained the ideologies of the Force. But he hated Luke Skywalker, mostly because Snoke held him responsible for the death of Darth Vader. His grandfather had almost singlehandedly destroyed the Jedi Order, which Snoke saw as healthy progress. He very much wanted to stop Skywalker from rebuilding a new generation of Jedi. That was mostly, Kylo suspected, because Snoke knew those new Jedi would oppose him and win.
From the beginning, Snoke made it clear that he wanted his Apprentice to be a new Vader . . . only better. No pressure there. To that end, Snoke encouraged Kylo to discover his true Skywalker heritage. On an emerald moon, he dug up what little remains of his grandfather's armor. Next, Kylo made a pilgrimage to Tatooine where Snoke insisted he find his great-grandmother's grave. Then, the first day Kylo cast Force lightning, Snoke presented the best possible reward. He handed over the coordinates and keys to his grandfather's castle on Mustafar. This is your birthright, Snoke intoned solemnly. Your grandfather would have wanted you to have this when you were old enough. One day, you will be everything Lord Vader was and more.
Kylo had long assumed that meant that he too would play the masked enforcer role to Snoke as the power that safeguards the power. That he would be the military minded Apprentice who helps to rule the unified galaxy. His job would be to put down rebellions and stamp out rival Force-users to keep a stranglehold on power. Because only a strongman figure can keep law and order long-term. At least, that was the public version of his grandfather who the galaxy knew.
But here on Mustafar are the relics of his grandfather the private man. The extensive medical apparatus and the replacement prosthetics Vader tinkered with incessantly. They bear witness to a life full of physical limitations and pain. Here too are the lightsabers collected from fallen Jedi during the Purge and the library of Jedi holochrons and archival records snatched from plundered temples. For a man so determined to destroy the Jedi, Vader sure kept a lot of their stuff around. But there is plenty of Sith paraphernalia to be found as well. Dark holochrons, fragments of journals from long dead Sith Masters, and ancient masks and armor designs. There are even detailed records of Force experiments that appear to be focused on resurrecting the dead. Light Side, Dark Side-Vader must have studied it all. His grandfather was a devoted Force nerd until the end. But what exactly had he been hoping to achieve? Sadly, it's just one more unanswered question about the real motivations of the man born Anakin Skywalker.
One thing is clear from Vader's life: he was conflicted, just like Kylo. And he too started out a good Jedi before he careened into Darkness.
Years ago, Kylo had been a good Jedi. While he wasn't happy to be sent off to train, he eventually came around to the idea and worked hard to master his craft. His uncle dogged him incessantly though. Far more so than any of the other students. Luke Skywalker was paranoid about the Dark Side and lectured against it constantly. He watched his nephew carefully for signs of it budding. And so, naturally, Darkness became the forbidden fruit that the Padawan with a rebellious streak wondered about now and then. Kylo's Dark thoughts were fantasies mostly, plus a few rudimentary forays into mind manipulation. Nothing major, but Luke took them seriously and tried to kill him for it. For even the temptation to Darkness was a mortal sin for Master Skywalker.
His uncle's fears became a sort of self-fulfilling prophesy. Luke almost killed him for what his uncle feared he might someday become. It was completely unfair. Because at the time, that was a future Kylo hadn't even wanted. But, as fate would have it, young Ben Solo became that monster anyway thanks to the cataclysmic misstep of his skittish uncle. Kylo's instinctive Force shockwave in self-defense sealed his fate forever.
Rey and others might refuse to recognize it, but Kylo is as much a victim as he is a villain.
He hates being a Skywalker. To be a favorite of the Force means that your life is not your own and your choices are illusory. For no matter what you think you are choosing, the result is always the same. One way or another, a Skywalker always ends up at the epicenter of everything. Plus, your plight—whether Dark or Light-is overshadowed by the legacy of his grandfather. His parents and his uncle lied about it even as they tried to atone for it. He has embraced it and tried to recreate it with Snoke's help. But still, Kylo is not sure of what that achieves, if anything. All in all, the dumpster fire that is his life gets him down. Very down. Here he is, the young ruler of the known universe, and he is terribly unfulfilled.
Still disturbed by his experience in the Force portal, when Kylo returns to his shuttle he orders a complete data dump from the Imperial archives on the observatory projects and the probe droid explorations into the Unknown Regions. Next, he tells his pilot to set course for Jakku. He's this far out in the Rim already, he might as well investigate the observatory there for himself. But he won't do it alone. He knows the perfect person to assist. Kylo turns to an aide and orders the Palace to collect Rey and put her on a fast shuttle. If there is something important to learn on Jakku, she will know how to find it.
But will she balk at coming? Kylo sends a short text message to the comlink he gave her. "Meet me on Jakku. I'm going scavenging." is all it says