Ben sat on a rock in the forest alone and concentrated. He reached out to Rey through their force dyad and found her, far away. Ben found a small part of her, a trace of Rey hidden behind the identity of Darth Sethi. The Empress, on her way to the interrogation room, froze and turned to meet Ben's eyes.
"Looks like you learnt about Korriban," she smirked. "You can't stop us now."
"Maybe not. What have you done with them," Ben snapped back. Sethi gave a sinister laugh.
"I offered them a place in all this. They refused. I took control to try to help you, but you refused. Let's say that the troublemakers like you will be purged," she snarled.
Ben snapped out of the connection. He had to warn the others. But he wasn't ready to give up on Rey yet.
Rey stood in front of Poe who was shackled to a chair. Poe rolled his eyes at his bonds. He had been trapped in an identical chair when he was interrogated by Kylo Ren.
"I offered you my help. You refused." The Empress stepped towards him slowly, leaning her face close to his. "In that case, there is no need for you anymore."
Poe smirked. "Fine. But kill me, and the resistance still lives."
"No. We have created something. And you will be our first test subject." Poe's eyes widened as Rey motioned for him to be dragged away. Rey moved in front of Jannah who watched Poe leave in worry.
"You," Rey snapped. She reached out her hand to Jannah's forehead. There was no stopping Rey as she dug through Jannah's mind.
"TZ-1719," Rey said, pushing deeper as Jannah groaned. "And you sent the message to the Resistance. Yes, and you put a tracking device in this ship. And the Resistance, you sent a message to them. Foolish. We can track your signal to their location." Rey broke off and Jannah slumped in the chair.
"Keep her in the holding cell for delivery to camp. Remove the tracking device from the ventilation shaft. Prepare the fleet to go to Korriban. Our plan will be shifted faster now." The guards and officers saluted as Jannah's limp body was dragged away.
Ben flinched as he felt Jannah and Poe's pain. He reached out again to Rey.
"They will not die," Sethi said, not even turning around as Ben saw her.
"What have you done with them," Ben asked again, his hands balling into fists. The Empress laughed.
"Still the angry child," She smirked, turning around. "You know that you cannot escape your fate." She suddenly jumped forwards and grabbed Ben's fist. Ben found himself standing on a smooth, black tiled floor. A throne was in front of him. It had a large, circle back and a seat with two large armrests. Rey was standing beside it, wearing her dark robes with her staff over her shoulder and the hinged saber on her belt. But what threw Ben off was who was sitting on the throne. He looked at his own face twisted into a sinister look as he leaned on the armrest, his eyes cold, his clothes dark and his old saber back on his belt.
Ben jerked out of it and found himself standing alone, outside the rebel base in the cold air. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had seen these visions himself, only Rey had amplified them, almost swallowing him before Ben stopped himself.
"Ben."
He turned around to see Anakin smiling at him.
"I'm not ready, grandfather," he whispered. "I am still tormented by the dark."
"No one is ever ready," Anakin replied. "To think you are ready is vanity. The rebellion survives because of hope, Ben. Not because of a well-planned attack. Learn to let go of the past. The dark will always be there. You just need to seek the light."
"Stay with me," Ben said, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Always," he whispered before fading into the night.
