They had named the ship Subjugator. Even before it was complete, it was quite apparent that no other name would fit the baleful vessel. Whether it had started with the architects, the officers who watched over the shipyards of Maluzin or the thousands of slaves who had toiled to assemble the leviathan, the name spread quickly. Eventually it reached the Supreme Leader, and he had no objections to the moniker.
The Subjugator lacked the sheer size of its predecessor, the Supremacy – though to be sure it was still vast. A unique Super Star Destroyer, ten kilometres from keel to stern. And where the Supremacy had been a statement of arrogance, a fortified palace among the stars, the Subjugator was the purest example of a warship from its dagger-sharp prow to the trio of autocannons which hung beneath its armoured belly.
Had the Supremacy been designed this way, he liked to point out, the Resistance would have perished long before they got within sight of Crait. The Subjugator was a great blade of dark metal, the epitome of Kylo Ren's will to dominate. It had been sailing the stars for only a year and a half, and already there was no ship in the Galaxy that inspired more dread. It was a fleet-killer without peer, with over a hundred broken ships to its name already. Its arrival marked the end of all hope for any world which held out against the First Order.
So it had been for the world of Kreelin. Holding to geostationary orbit above the world's tortured surface, the Subjugator cast a shadow across the entire capital city. The First Order's victory here was complete, the Supreme Leader having already returned to his flagship.
Aboard the monstrous vessel, Ren was partway through a strategic briefing when he felt two stabbing pains. Searing white light flashed behind his eyes, and he put a hand on the console before him to steady himself. For a split-second, he saw Rey, her face flecked with blood and etched with fury. Then he felt an emptiness, as if some part of him had been cut away.
He opened his eyes again, breathing hard through gritted teeth. His staff regarded him with mingled concern and fear, at least those who hadn't decided that best policy would be not to meet his eyes. They quickly realised their error and stared at their feet.
Ren turned to his Knights. All of them appeared unsteady. Yimur stared back and nodded shakily, before bowing his helmeted head.
"Supreme Leader?" Pryde was looking quizzical.
Ren stared down at his armoured hand, curling it into a fist. "They killed them. Torlun and Gwaelyn are dead at the hands of the Resistance." The anger was already kindling in his chest. "Have we received word from General Hux yet, to explain this?"
Admiral Frantis Griss, Ren's fleetmaster, cleared his throat. "General Hux traced a potential lead to Raxus Prime, Supreme Leader. However, he found a Resistance taskforce already at the location and when he launched an attack, they sprang an ambush on his fleet." He glanced down at the datapad in his hands and pursed his lips. "The General's fleet was rendered combat-ineffective and they have been obliged to return to occupied space. He has suspicions, he says, that the-"
"I know she was there," Ren snapped. He could feel her, some trace of her lingering on the edge of his senses. Turning to the viewports, he regarded the charred face of Kreeling, and forced himself to speak slowly and deliberately. "So Hux has squandered even the knowledge of the enemy's whereabouts, and they are now on their way to find the deserters. My patience wears thin indeed."
That was putting it very mildly indeed. No wonder, he thought, that Hux had decided to compose a missive rather than explain himself in person. Ren was tempted to make contact himself, though on reflection he decided against it. Let Hux stew instead. He would pay soon enough, but for now he was a secondary consideration.
Ren sank into the red haze of his fury, finding a strange layer of melancholy. Two companions he had known since early adolescence, gone. For a certain, strange value of companion, their souls yoked to him by blood-sealed oath and the power of the Dark Side. But it clawed at him nonetheless. The Knights were the closest thing he had had to friends for a very long time. And now, where the presences of Gwaelyn and Torlun has been, there was a gaping, echoing void. Except for the merest trace of… her.
He forced himself to heed his surroundings again. Griss continued his summary of Hux's report, interspersed with messages from the surface of Kreeling – the occupation forces were busy installing themselves and the rest had been recalled to the fleet. Within the hour, they would be able to depart and attend to the task Hux had so miserably failed at.
Ren allowed the words to wash over him as he studied the hololiths, until another voice intruded. An old, familiar voice. "So, the Supreme Leader job's going quite nicely so far then?" Uncertainty rippled through his Knights.
And when he looked, he saw the ghost of his old master stood among the assembled officers. There was a wry smile on his face, though it quickly gave way to stern anger.
Ren had to wrench his eyes away, momentarily bearing his teeth. "General, Admiral," he said. "You have the bridge. There is a… matter I must attend to."
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He stormed down the corridors to his quarters at a pace that threatened to break into a run, the Knights hurrying to keep up and still trailing behind. Troops and officers saw him and froze, or even fled into adjacent rooms when they saw the look on his face.
Luke kept pace at his elbow, needling him all the way. "Do you really imagine you can sustain this, Ben? Do you still think that you can just crush the Galaxy into submission?"
Ren ducked into a side chamber, sealing the door with a gesture before even the Knights could enter behind him.
Luke's ghost was not so easily deterred. He passed through the metal unhindered. "You think this will end any better for you than it did for Vader?"
Ren screamed, and every screen and light fitting within a thirty-metre radius blew out.
He turned back to the door. Luke was stood there, looking more exasperated than anything else. "Very mature, Ben. Are you ready to talk now?"
Ren glared at him, forcing a semblance of calm. "I notice a distinct lack of sorrow for your old pupils, Master."
Luke lost any semblance of humour. "I did my mourning when I learned that you had leashed them to the Ren and made murderers of them. Or don't you remember the other apprentices, the ones you slaughtered that night? I'm not going to deny that I was at fault, but what you did to your own friends is all on you. The best I can say for those two…" he hesitated, reluctant to say the names, but his eyes were hard and cold. "They're free of you now."
Ren let his breath hiss between his teeth. "So it's the same old lecture, Uncle? You're looking at the ruler-"
"The ruler who still has his idol in his chambers." His uncle's face was etched with disdain. "That damn mask. You know," he added as he stepped forward, "unlike you, Ben, I've actually spoken to your grandfather. You only ever heard Snoke borrowing his voice." He looked older than when Ren had last seen him, though the look in his eyes was no less fierce. "You know nothing of his regrets, the ones his spirit carries those even now. The compassion you've insisted for so long was a weakness was the only thing that saved him from total damnation."
Ren sneered at him. "You think I'm daunted by the memory of a broken slave? I'm the Supreme Leader, Uncle." He gestured callously towards the mask. "I've outgrown him, just as I rid myself of Snoke, and of you. Even if you're refusing to take the hint." He put his face close to Luke's. "I'm no one's slave."
"Oh certainly, you're no one else's slave." Luke shook his head sadly. "You've built your own cage and called it a fortress. But it'll be the undoing of you. The Dark Side only ever consumes, in the end." He softened his tone. "Don't you see it in your own face, Ben?"
But that was so like a Jedi, the same dogma Ren had been fed throughout his tutelage. He treated it with the scorn it deserved. "I feel my power growing. But you know that, and that's what you fear. You know how far I've grown beyond Rey's strength. The next we meet, she'll be at my mercy."
"So sure." Luke's spirit had begun to fade away, vanishing into the shadows. "You don't see your ruin coming, Ben. But it's getting closer, unless you look past your delusions."
A lie so blatant that even now, it amazed Ren that Luke could utter it with a straight face. "I see clearly enough."
He could see Luke just clearly enough to note his raised eyebrow. "We'll see, Ben." Then Ren was alone in the room.
He emerged into a corridor dimly illuminated by back-up lights and strewn with the shards left by the lights blowing out. His Knights stood either attentively or where they had halted mid-prowl. All of them had hands on their weapons.
To Ren's surprise, Krobakh was the first to speak, voice scraping through the grille of his helmet. He He stepped forward and glass crunched under his feet. "Skywalker?" It was the first time in years that any of the Knights had uttered their old teacher's name. "What did he… say?"
"Nothing of consequence." He stared at them, daring any of them to question him – naturally his eyes lingered longest on Verix. Not one of them spoke. "The dead can't stop us. And now we know that Rey is among the Resistance in Tion. There is a trail to follow."
"And we have blood vengeance to mete out," Yimur hissed.
A bitter smile tugged at Ren's lips. "That we do, my brothers."
As he made his way back to the bridge, he passed officers and troopers nursing a variety of nasty cuts. He ignored them, for they were beneath his notice. The hunt called for his attention.
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Gannylt was already in the infirmary, a medical droid sewing up the gashes on his forehead and chin. He winced as it tugged at his skin. Make this another reason to want Hux on the throne. What kind of leader thought so little of his men that he would just walk past them after pelting them with broken glass?
Theld, one of the other officers picked by Torqueda, was stood outside when he left. "We need to talk."
"What's to talk about?" he said, trying not to whisper it. They needed to sound like they were talking about something quite unworthy of interest. He'd learned that well in the academy. "We have our instructions. Surely that's all we require. We wait and listen."
"You haven't heard. There's been a missive from the High Inquisitor." Theld steered him into a side room, glancing furtively behind them as he did so.
"The situation has changed," Theld said once the door had hissed shut. They kept their voices low. "Ren is taking over the hunt for the Vehement. General Hux is in a corner, and we've gone from being a contingency to the best hope of getting justice for Supreme Leader Snoke."
"Is there a plan? Have you heard from Captain Hauma?"
"Yes. Hauma knows Ren's mind. The scavenger is among the Resistance. Between her and the deserters, he'll want to deal with this in person. That gives us our opportunity." Theld was almost shaking with a mix of nerves and fervour. "Ren goes to the surface of whatever world they've gone to ground on and takes the Knights with him. That leaves us clear to take the bridge. We've got three squads who we can rely on, planted by the High Inquisitor."
Gannylt nodded. That should be enough.
Theld rattled on. "If we kill Pryde and Griss, we'll have control of the whole Subjugator. While we're doing that, the Severity will bombard the surface and kill Ren. The rest of the fleet will be caught by surprise and leaderless. We'll have won!" he hissed.
The mix of trepidation and ambition was infectious, Gannylt found. "Do the others know?"
"Yes, you're the last. So from now on, we don't stray from the bridge. When the signal comes we need to be ready."
"For true order?"
"For true order."