(XII) Duel of the Faiths
"What do you think you're playing at?" Ren snarled, mindful of the fact that he was unarmed and woefully outnumbered. This was not the scenario he had anticipated when he had been torn from his moment with Rey. As the newly appointed Supreme Leader he had had no reason not to join his crew on the ship's bridge when summoned. Now Ren was was regretting a great many decisions that he had made throughout the course of his career, not the least of which was having stepped out of his quarters without his weapon.
There stood Kylo Ren, enraged, confused but surmising the situation quickly. He was surrounded by Hux and his fist-worthy smirk, his stormtroopers and…
"What's the meaning of this?" he repeated, staring straight at the masked faces of the battle-ready Knights of Ren who had not been summoned from the corners of the galaxy upon his request.
"I've been commanded to relieve you of your duties, Supreme Leader," declared Hux in that smarmy way that made Ren want to forego his lightsaber altogether and dig the minion's eyes out with his bare hands. It was all the young master of darkness could do to not let his fury get the better of him for a cool two hundred to one wasn't going against the odds- it was suicide.
"On whose orders?" Ren hissed, tight-lipped and beginning to shake with pent-up force.
"Why, the Supreme Leader's of course," Hux smirked again, relishing the long-awaited moment of seeing Kylo Ren's world come crashing down. "Take him away!" he commanded and the guards had Ren in their hold within seconds. "Throw him in with his beloved uncle. Let them rot together."
Ren looked to his knights. Fearless and unparalled were their skills with the force. They had looked to him as their leader, fought at his side and heeded his commands. They were the few to side with him and leave Luke's Jedi temple as it burned to nothing. And they had betrayed him. They stood before him without a hint of acknowledgment and the moment seemed to stretch out in time only to come back as a blade that dug its way into Kylo Ren's back. Resisting his captivity was an exercise in futility but Ren was set against suffering this particular betrayal lightly. As he was led away to a cell and weakened with each crippling blow to the body, the last words he heard were 'Ben Solo is forevermore stripped of his title as a Knight of Ren. I doubt he'll want to keep the name Kylo now…The Supreme Leader will see to his fate." With a lumbering blow to the head Ben Solo's unconscious body was tossed into a filthy holding cell.
Rey had been standing still, too shaken from the repercussions of what had just transpired between her and the man she had once sought to kill until a disturbance in theForce came like a direct hit to her head and she was left a crumpled mess on the cold floor. She grabbed at her muscles and wrung her hands into her head but the pain was so atrocious she could barely pick herself up. In the next instant she could feel him, all of him, and she was plunged into his unconscious just as swiftly as if she'd jumped into an ocean. In the darkness of Ben's mind she ran and ran but couldn't find him. Then, her ears picked up on something almost inaudible. Rey silently followed the muffled crying until she had no sense of her surroundings left or where her feet led. She stopped as soon as her eyes locked onto a form and she knew she had met her destination. There was the child Ben Solo, naked and unmoving on the floor with his knees pulled up against his chin. He was trembling. The boy made no motion to acknowledge her presence and his eyes were so focused on the nothingness he was staring at that he didn't even blink.
Rey crept towards the boy timidly with her hand reaching out to placate him should he take notice of her. Nothing. She kneeled down to his level but still he looked through and beyond her phantasm. Ever so slowly she lifted her hand further until the tip of her fingers barely grazed his forearm. In less than a second Rey was transported to the bitter core of the boy's agony. How excrutiatingly he had felt the losses and betrayals in his life. This was not someone who had succeeded in closing himself off from the world but a soul who felt everything acutely, agonizingly. He had been too young when the Force came to claim him in one way or another. The frail boy's psyche had not been ready for the burden of choice. She felt the waves of light and darkness grappling for control over his spirit like great beasts fighting over the last carcass on the ground. The battle was not new. Rey sensed that their skirmish was so deeply rooted that the boy may have been born with a built-in conflict. Then, like a beacon in the night, she saw the figure of Darth Vader. It wasn't difficult to see why the boy fixated on the myth of his grandfather; he was a towering vision in black, a pillar of strength no one dared toy with, even fewer would dare to betray. To the boy's mind, Darth Vader was the very nexus of power which he felt himself devoid of. Then, something more sinister, a darkness even older than Vader was creeping in to swallow the fantasy of control. When she saw the creature, he was not someone whose appearance she recognized. But the feeling… there was no disguising it. Snoke could take on any form he wished but would never be able to veil his malice, his relentless cruelty or his powerlust. One aspect that caught Rey's attention was the figure's manner of dress. Something about the hood shielding his gnarled face lent a primal simplicity to the monster's manner and made him even more menacing. Rey couldn't quite put her finger on it. The boy Ben was pleading with her to come back but the image begged for just a bit more investigation and like the curiousity that killed the cat, Rey allowed herself to scrutinize. He was almost as Luke had been- that is to say, a more sinister counterpart to Luke's light. He was not armed with a lightsaber but there was no mistaking the tremendous power he kept at his command. Rey was startled when she realized that the boy was standing beside her, equally fixated on the image. Suddenly, the creature Snoke was joined by another figure cloaked much like himself, smaller but no less swaddled in corruption. They were busy discussing amongst themselves but one could easily discern the master from the apprentice.
"He used to be a Darth, you know," the boy whispered. Although Rey had barely been able to hear him the men turned towards them as if they had been shouting in a cave. Quickly Rey grabbed the boy and said "Ben, we have to leave. Now. Now!" But it was too late. The phantasmagoria was unraveling around them with the figures closing in, their electric assault preceding their attack. With no end in sight and the lightning-force inches away, Rey fiercely pulled the boy to her. She could think of nothing else than the need to shield him for however long possible. Now, imprisoned tightly within her arms, Rey closed her eyes.
Ben was startled back to consciousness with a headache the likes of which he'd never known. He felt cold and broken. Wincing with every motion, he propped himself up against a wall and rubbed at his sores. Chuckling from within his cell made him aware that he was not its sole occupant.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?"
Ben closed his eyes and tried to level out his breathing. He wished nothing more than to be back in his room being badgered by the ghost of his uncle and hoped that even his luck wouldn't be foul enough to land him in a cell with Lando Calrissian.
"Either the Order's housing quality standards are slipping or you've had one too many shots of Jawa-juice kid but one of us is in the wrong place."
Knowing full well the torture Lando had been subjected to, Ben stubbornly refused to face him. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away with ignoring the man's presence altogether but this was a fine turn of events his force-visions hadn't prepared him for.
"Tell me, Kylo Ren,is it procedure now for the Supreme Leader's lapdog to spend time with their captives? Or you just here to pay your uncle Lando another one'a yer friendly visits?"
"Are you through?" Ben asked, deadpan and wincing while trying to adjust his back.
"Ahhh," drawled Lando, "I'm just gettin' started, kid. But I tell you what. For the first time, I don't have a bad feeling about this."
"Rey, it's not safe! What- what're you not telling me?" Finn prodded and sensed his friend's apprehension. Trying to lighten the mood he added, "You get a boyfriend in the meantime, cute boyfriend? You know I think I could work something out between you and Poe. I think he-"
"Finn." Rey was a young woman possessed. She wanted nothing more than to confide in her only friend but the issue had grown beyond that of trust and was now a ticking timebomb. She could barely make sense of the storm within herself much less divulge recent happenings to him. Finn would never understand. He would want to but the discussion of redemption would take up too much of the precious time Rey no longer had. Ben was in danger, the Resistence had never gotten away from it and the cluster of evil she had thought they put an end to was seeking a way to crawl back to the surface- with a vengeance. No, there was no time to make anyone understand. First, Rey needed answers and she was now prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to obtain them. She would reach out with her senses, just as Luke had taught her, and she would use those skills to delve deep into the folds of the Force- no matter the price.
"Finn, please listen," she entreated, "I'll explain everything when the time is right but you have to trust me. I've got to concentrate. If anything… If anything happens-"
"What?"
"Just give me time, please? If anything happens tell Leia. Promise me. Finn."
"Alright, I promise," he finally conceded, completely unconvinced as to the necessity of all this Force-diving. "But I'll be right outside that door. I don't like this."
"Thank you," the young woman said and ushered her friend out the door. Her heart sped with anxiety but the moment was now. She sat herself in the center of her room, crossed her legs as she had done before, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
At first there was nothing. In fact, there was so much nothing that Rey found her mind wandering to when Luke had smacked her with the reed and smiled. She scolded herself to concentrate and within a few moments of tempered breathing Rey found herself reliving the cycle. Life. Death. Decay feeding new life. Warmth. Cold. Peace. Violence… and the fragile balance flowing through all things. Like a faint echo in the stillness a mantra found its way to her and her lips followed the chant with silent ease. I am one with the Force and the Force is with me. I am one with the Force and the Force is with me…
Over and over she recitated the words and like a faithful guide the Force led the girl through its intricate maze of balances and counterbalances. Rey dipped through the waves. Light fed into dark, dark into light and the will of the Force seemed to carry on for an eternity. She reached further. The Force was not as seamless now. In places it was downright coarse and unforgiving. She trekked towards the darkness. I am one with the Force and the Force is with me… The finely tuned balance she had first plunged into was not as it seemed once one broke through the surface. Rey steeled her nerves, warning that should she allow herself to be drowned there would be no quick wake-up calls this time and it would all be for nothing. Treading farther in than she had ever been, Rey felt the pulling of a familiar cord and flowed towards the sensation. Energy was different now, crackling and breaking at every turn, ready to devour the weak and expel a different creature in its place. But the power of the dark side was unmistakable. Rough and burning with the heat of a thousand stars Rey let the atmosphere envelope her and claim her, knowing it to be the only way to gain entrance to its secrets. There it was again: that laughter she had heard upon first meeting Luke. And then, as if the very light of the universe had been snuffed out in a single breath, darkness.
"Pity we should meet under such circumstances," said a voice dripping with cordiality.
"Who are you?"
"Pity still that you were kept hidden from me," it continued, "You would have been a worthy successor. I would not have wasted precious teachings on that traitor had I known of your existence, my child."
"Traitor?"
"I believe you are familiar with my former apprentice Darth Vader, albeit indirectly."
"You! You-!"
"Yes," the voice answered almost merrily, "I believe you know of me. Time was the entire galaxy did."
"You're Palpatine!" Rey hissed, "You were the Sith emperor who lead the Empire."
"Yes, Rey, I am. And you are the grandchild I was not made aware of. Such a waste of potential. An heir to the Force and here you are, shackled and groveling at it for answers when I would have you use it to restore order to the galaxy!"
"Liar!" she barked and her voice reverberated through the Force. "You are the source of all this bloodshed. You had the entire galaxy bent to your will-"
"Indeed I had not," Darth Sidious carried on calmly. "I was merely a weilder of the Force, much as we all are. No, Rey, my saving grace lay in my sense of purpose. That and I had a vision which many shared."
"Shared? They served you out of fear!"
"Fear is a powerful ally, young Rey. It was fear that kept Darth Vader in check. Fear that gave birth to a new order, rising from the ashes of a corrupt Republic. It was your beloved Jedi that brought the peace and security we all enjoyed to its knees."
Rey could feel herself tearing up in anger. She tried to steady her voice but it broke just enough to let the man know that he was getting to her. "How can you have such a twisted understanding of life?" she begged. "Do you lack all empathy for the well-being of others?"
"Child, I am nothing if not empathy itself. You crave to save the ones you love from a horrific end. I did no less for Anakin Skywalker when I mentored him at my side."
"You turned him into Darth Vader!"
"I saved him from himself," Sidious declared, "after he was left burned within an inch of his life, arms and legs cut off and barely human! It was my power over the Force that gave him a renewed sense of purpose. It was your Jedi that robbed him of it in the first place. I promised him life when there was only death."
"You promised him something you could never deliver," Rey bit back.
"But I could have, had he not delayed in committing himself to me fully."
"No one can cheat death."
"There was one who could. One who did." That laughter would haunt her wherever she went but Rey was so shocked at the declaration that she could hardly speak above a whisper.
"Snoke?"
"Yeees," Sidious cooed with his gravelly voice. "But he was not always called that."
"It's not possible," Rey shook her head, biting back her anger. "Ben… Ben killed him. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Search your feelings. You know it to be true. What you saw was a master of the Force leaving his corporeal self to seek out another host. And he will find it in due time. " His tone was unwaveringly calm. Whatever his claims on the dark side were, Rey knew that the only way to unravel the spiderweb the galaxy was caught up in was to find its source. And she was face to face with the webweaver himself.
"I can feel your anger," Sidious laughed and Rey was not one to correct him. The more they spoke the angrier she became and the larger his awful grin grew. He was baiting her and they were both aware of it but she had sworn to take it if it meant putting an end to the madness.
"Tell me how it's done. How is it possible that he is alive? How am I to kill something that can't be killed?"
"You are asking me to turn over the secrets of the dark side- a side you sneer at without knowing its true power."
"I came here for your secrets."
"Oh? And why must I tell you?"
"You were strong with the Force once. But you're here and Snoke… I know you are not lying because I can feel his power. It's growing stronger than ever. He will return and I must face him."
"Then what is the answer to our riddle, child? You are not strong enough with the light to destroy something so far beyond your capabilities. But you have yet to embrace the full power of the Force. You shun the dark yet it is the only weapon that comes to your aid."
"There has to be another way!"
"There is no other way! Not if you want to save your precious Kylo Ren," Sidious spat and their voices grew louder with each turn of the phrase. "Snoke will have his head thrown across his throneroom while you stand here sniveling at me! Feel the power flowing in your veins-"
"I'm nothing like you!"
"You are stronger than me!"
"You would make me your puppet just like you did Darth Vader!"
"Vader was a conflicted fool who lost his conviction! Snoke will never stop and the galaxy will burn. He will be aided by his growing hordes until there is nothing left to consume and your puny Resistance is wiped from all memory. Ben Solo will die in a foolish attempt to end his master yet again. Nothing will remain of what you hold dear. I have foreseen it."
"Liar!"
"And time grows short. Embrace the dark side, your true nature, or you have already failed."
"Never!" yelled Rey and it came with such strength that she felt her throat rip apart. Images of death and lifeless bodies floating across the nothingness of space assaulted her mind and she screamed as much as her throat would allow. "I won't turn to the dark side!" she screeched at the nothingness consuming her. But the images pierced her like the lightsaber she thrashed about wildly trying to cast them out. She lunged herself at the image of her grandfather, ready to tear him and his knowledge to tatters. Her hands grappled a vision and nothing more. Violently Rey tried to rip at his flesh but he was nothing more than another phantom, laughing at her rage, feeding it.
"This is bigger than you or me or Snoke, girl. You fight for the soul of the Force! Claim it, or others will."
Exhausted and a breath a second, Rey fell to her knees.
"I'll save him," she rasped, "I'll save them all." Her heart was pounding in her ears. "I won't turn to the dark side," she wheezed, " I won't."
"My child," Darth Sidious chuckled and was suddenly serious. "Open your eyes. You already have. Now come, tell me," he smiled, "are you familiar with the legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"
"Rey," Ben said unable to stop the pounding in his chest. After the throbbing in his head had subsided he bent his will towards the girl's only to come up empty-handed. For the first time in his life Ben Solo knew fear for another and the feeling was crippling. It was as though Rey had been wiped off the map and the thought would have driven him mad in that cell but he refocused his feelings and reached out for her. The minutes dragged and still he came up with nothing until finally, when he least expected it, he felt a spark. It was small and so far away from him that the more he reached for it the further away it recoiled. At first he gave in to the paranoia of abandonment, thinking that she was intentionally shutting him out but his fear for the girl's safety bid him try harder. When he was sure the spark belonged to her a new mystery presented itself. She was there, wherever there was, but her energy was fleeting. Her light danced away from him even as he reached out to touch it. Just when he caught a hold of its escaping tendril Ben felt a surge of raw power determined to keep him out. And it was a power he knew all too well. There was Rey, inside the jaws of the beast that was the dark side and marching further into its belly. Lando's suspicious questioning pulled him away.
"What about her? Tell me you didn't kill the girl, Ben."
"Far from it," Ben answered curtly. "But she's in danger."
"So? What's that got to do with you?"
"We have to get out of this cell," Ben declared and Lando did nothing to hide his incredulity. He mouthed the question we? and pointed first to himself then at Ben.
Before Ben could reply, a smug Hux followed by an entourage of guards made their way through the filthy wasteland of the prison block to face his captives.
"I'm afraid your bonding is at an end. The Supreme Leader has ordered your execution, Solo. I'm told he will be administering your demise personally."
Ben immediately had Hux's throat in the Force's chokehold but the guards, all too aware of his methods, tazed him before he could do Hux any permanent damage. Grasping for air Hux gathered himself up and declared with the utmost disain, "I'm going to enjoy this." With that the squad made their exit, leaving the two in isolation once more. Time was running out.
"Tough break, kid," Lando said, lacking in sympathy for the young man while unable to mask his curiousity entirely. "Hey I know how it feels to be thrown out like trash."
"Trash…" Ben mumbled to himself. Whatever he was going to do had to be quick but the Order, cautious of Ben's capabilities, had left nothing to chance. "Trash," he muttered again, surveying his surroundings now, straining his eyes in the dimly lit block until he was rewarded with what he would never have thought to look for, under different circumstances.
"You do think on your feet when it's your own skin on the line," he quipped at Lando.
"Now wait a minute, are you outta yer mind? How're we even gotta get all the way over there?"
"Fine. Stay in your cell," Ben answered indifferently. "You used to have more imagination."
The line of dialogue and Ben's docile behavior towards him had Lando so off-guard he wondered if he'd been hallucinating the whole scene.
"Alright hotshot, suppose that vent does lead to the garbage compound. Just how're we getting outta this cell?"
"I'm going to use the Force."
"Ah, here wo go."
"I'm going to use the Force but it'll drain a lot of my energy," Ben continued coldly. "Maybe all of it, I don't know. We have to be ready to move the moment there's an opening. I may need your help." The last part was so difficult for Ben to spit out he practically dared Lando to dwell on it. Then maybe they would kill each other and be done with it all. But Lando nodded silently, loathe to give up on his suspicion. Just before Ben closed his eyes in concentration Lando hit the back of his hand against Ben's chest.
"How do I know I can trust you after everything that's happened?"
"You don't. I'm not asking for your trust."
"Then how do I know you won't go crawling back to beg Snoke's favor the moment we're outta here, huh?"
"You don't. My place is no longer with the First Order," Ben said, looking out of the cell and anywhere except at Lando. "I thought I had killed Snoke. I did kill him. That's not something he's likely to forgive. Regardless, I no longer seek his forgiveness." Lando nodded again, slower this time, eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what to even ask anymore.
"Well…" he muttered in confusion, "Alright then. Have at it, son."
