Chapter 17 - Lothal

Knock Knock. An imposing figure dressed all in black walked up the alley and knocked on a certain door.

"Password." A small hatch slid open to reveal two inches of a droid.

"Black Raven One," came the heavily modulated voice from the mask.

"Enter." said the droid, and the door slid open.

As the dark figure entered the underworld den hushed voices murmured the name "Kylo Ren." The room became very quiet after this, as conversations ceased. Some seemed afraid to clink their glasses.

The dark figure was not bothered by this reaction, however. He walked past a pair of gamblers who gawked at him when he entered, but their eyes quickly focused on their cards again as he approached. No one wanted to earn his wrath.

The dark figure walked up to a bar, where the only two figures who didn't gawk at him were seated. One of them, a drunk man, was slouched against the bar. His clothes were dirty and his hair and beard were a mess. His eyes kept shifting around the room. "Another-r!" He tapped his empty glass on the counter.

The second figure beside him quickly tapped the drunk man's shoulders and pointed behind him. This second man also wore a mask. He was over six foot tall, and he was entirely covered except for a highly pressurized filter mask and thick corrective lenses. Most assumed him to be Kyuzo based on his dress, though he was considerably stocky for one.

Kylo Ren had a very brief conversation with the two of them, then he turned and walked towards the back room. Out of sight, out of mind. The conversations immediately started back up and no one noticed the two figures had slipped away from the bar.

Luke Skywalker donned the disguise of a drunk under the advice of Han Solo.

"With that beard, he's half way there. Just needs a few beer stains in the clothes, and…" Han messed up Luke's hair. "And there you go."

Initially Luke's reaction was to glare at his old friend, though he had to admit, it did have the necessary effect. With some acting, of course, he was able to play the part well, and it allowed him to keep an eye on his nefarious nephew.

The first objective, to confirm the target's presence and location, was easily completed. Bar tenders talk a lot, especially when they think their customers are too drunk to remember it all. After passing the news to Kylo Ren, Luke got up from his bar stool and barely remembered to walk like a drunk. He took two steps, then faked a fall on his Kyuzo-dressed comrade.

"Uh," His comrade grunted and Luke could feel his annoyance. Luke smiled. He was beginning to enjoy this. They both corrected their posture and walked through the door Kylo Ren just went through.

On the other side of this door the acting was not necessary. They climbed up a stair and walked down a hallway. Luke and his comrade waited outside the door while Kylo Ren walked in.

"Kylo… Master, I thought… The Supreme Leader said…" One of the figures inside nervously fretted before being elbowed by another.

"You've taken an assignment." Kylo Ren boomed through his modulator.

"Yes, from the supreme leader himself," one of the others said. This one sounded far less nervous.

Beside Luke, his comrade stalked, preparing for a fight. Luke had to put his hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"Where's the prisoner?" Kylo Ren asked.

"Kuruk will take you to the prisoners," answered the knight. Luke worried. This was too easy.

Luke and his Kyuzo comrade heard the stomp of two men walking to another room in the suite.

"Thank you Ap'lek. I never know how to deal with 'em." Said the first knight again.

"Ushar, he's the master's pet. You handle him like any beast. An ounce of respect and an ounce of confidence. Then you just tug at his leash like so," Ap'lek answered.

Luke put another hand on his comrade's arm to stop his movements, and bent near the door to hear the rest.

"His leash?" asked Ushar.

"Snoke, the boy'll do anything to earn his favor. Had any sense of disloyalty whipped out of him by the Master's…" Ap'lek was interrupted by another of Ushar's questions.

"But I thought Snoke said he'd gone missing. Hadn't checked in after his failure on Starkiller base."

"Pfft. The beast just needs another whipping, that's all. Once we bring him to Snoke, he'll be back to being the obedient pet. You'll see." Ap'lek sounded confident.

In another minute they heard the stomp of boots returning to the suite. "Where is the prisoner? The one from Jakku."

"Hmm?" Ushar sounded surprised.

"The Supreme Leader asked for your presence immediately," Ap'lek said. "You can ask him when we deliver you there."

Luke pulled out his comm device and typed a message to the second team. "Bad birds moving for the black mask. Package presence unconfirmed. Wave two go!" The message was coded, of course, but it would send the second wave of men into the building.

Then they heard the sound of a set of binders clamp shut.

"Oh! Hey!" Kylo Ren protested.

Luke feared their men would not approach fast enough. He really didn't want to do this without the back-up, but he had no choice. Tapping his comrade he signaled that they would move in. "We need a prisoner," he mouthed. He motioned for one… two… but before he got to three, his comrade burst into the room.

The man dressed as a Kyuzo held his hand up and the lightsaber flew from Kylo Ren's belt and into his hand. The Knights of Ren were surprised only for a second, and the Kyuzo threw the saber up as a vibro-ax came down at him.

Luke ran into the room and joined the fight, throwing two knights with the force and using his saber to parry with another two. "Ben!" he growled. One of the knights swung his weapon down towards Luke's head and he was forced to swipe at the man's chest. He didn't want to kill, but he was given no other choice.

Ap'lek cocked his head at the sound of that name, as he pulled his vibro-ax around to strike at the Kyuzo again. "Ben Solo. If it isn't the dear pet our master's lost."

Kylo pulled his Kyuzo mask off so he could move easier, then dodged a strike of the vibro-ax.

"See I told you. He's abandoned the order," said Ushar.

"No, he's just a run away, a stray taken in by soft-hearted idiots," responded Ap'lek. Ap'lek pulled his vibro-ax against Kylo's saber to pin it down, and he stroked Kylo's hair. "Once a beast goes tame, he's never going back to the wild again." Kylo tried to bite Ap-lek's gloved hand, but the knight moved it away quickly.

"Ben, NO!" Luke shouted from across the room. He could feel a wave of darkness welling up in the boy. This was exactly the thing he feared.

Luke's cries went faint. Kylo Ren pushed an enormous wave of dark energy out and the five knights fell. Kylo swung his saber into the chests of three knights, before Luke could stop him.

Ap'lek's vibro-ax was stuck in the wall, but instead of pulling it out, he laughed. "See, what did I tell you Ushar. He'll never go wild again."

As he said this, Ushar was struggling to breathe as Kylo grabbed his throat with the force.

"No Ben. We need prisoners. Don't use the dark side." Luke's protests were for naught, because Kylo kept squeezing and soon Ushar was dead.

Then Kylo turned towards Ap'lek and there was a dark hatred in his eyes. He turned and held his red lightsaber to the last Knight of Ren's throat.

Luke pulled out his own lightsaber and held it out to strike at Ben. He closed his eyes. He really did not want to be doing this, but Ben had lost the battle with the dark side. "Please Forgive me?" he said, before he swung his saber.

"Rey," kylo breathed. This made Luke stop his saber mid-swing and open his eyes. His nephew was looking off to his right and breathing heavily. The hatred was draining from his eyes.

Luke knew Rey was with the second wave of men who were fighting their way in at that moment. He reached out and could feel her presence in the first bar room. She was physically strained, like she was fighting, but surprised too. Luke looked in the direction Ben was staring, and he couldn't see anything odd there, but he felt a strange feeling with the force. A sensation he'd felt only once before. When Rey first left his meditation space after asking him to train her. Odd, he thought.

Kylo put down his lightsaber and Luke used the force to unlatch the binders from the resistance man who went in under the guise of Kylo Ren. They flew out to Luke and he quickly bound them around Ap'lek's wrists.

Luke then quickly typed a coded message to the team's commanders. "Black mask retrieved. 5 black birds cooked, One bound. Ready to extract."

"Come on Ben." Luke started to pull his nephew. "We can go join the teams downstairs for more fighting now."

Kylo looked back towards the strange force presence, then he turned and followed his Uncle.

This chapter has a good deal more action than my usual chapters. I did want to practice writing action scenes. Also I intended to keep the whose who under wraps until the ideal moment for dramatic purposes. Please let me know how it reads. Can you follow it? And is anything confusing? Your reviews help me to improve.