Fragments in itallics are used to dive into specific characters' heads throughout the narrative.
Chapter 30: "Baptism"
Years ago, a Knight of Ren was finally being officially accoladed in the volcanic Land of Mustafar. Snoke stood, and there were four Knights of Ren on his left side and four others on his right. A ninth Knight walked up to him and kneeled.
"Young Solo…" Snoke said, looking down at his creation, "it is finally time to fulfill your destiny. It's time to give yourself to the dark side…".
The training has made me very powerful. Luke wouldn't dream of some of the things I'm capable of.
And now it's finally time for you to choose your path definitively. No more living under the ruling or power of anyone else. You were right about all of your doubts. You are stronger than your father, your mother, and your uncle. Stronger than everyone else. You have been released from your chains and are now free to follow Darth Vader's footsteps; the path to omnipotence. He wanted to rule the galaxy, but was betrayed by his own weakness when the moment came. You won't. You will do what he couldn't. You won't hesitate.
"What name have you chosen for yourself?" Snoke asked.
"Kylo," Ben said. He'd learned ancient the language of an ancient Sith culture and tradition that Snoke had taken as an inspiration to develop the Knights of Ren. "Ren" meant power. That was what they pursued. And each of the Knights had chosen a different word from that language to represent what they wanted their life to be about in this new path, "Kylo Ren".
"Choice…" Snoke said, smiling. He'd successfully manipulated the young boy to be on his leash. And on top of that, he'd managed to make him think it was freedom of choice that characterized him now, "Very well. Rise, my apprentice. Rise in the Force".
Ben looked up at his master's face and stood up. A new life had now begun.
"And now…" Snoke said, as he turned around and walked outside of their small formation and began pacing circles around them, with Kylo Ren following him with his eyes, "It is time for the First Order to rise. And what better way than to show the galaxy what we're capable of than to destroy a planet that embraces rebellion?" Snoke pulls out a small device that projects a holographic map, showing the location of a planet, "This is Neast. As you know, Imperial rule remained on many planets despite the death of the Emperor, and this is one of them, but after some ten years, they got rid of it. And the burden must've affected them greatly, because they aren't trying to affiliate with the New Republic, allegedly fearing that it will become yet another Empire".
"What will we do, master?" Kylo Ren asked.
"They've been toying with being free for over a decade," Snoke responded, "But no more. We will make sure to bring order to the galaxy. We will slaughter them".
Slaughter them?
"Why not just take control of their planet?" Kylo asked.
"Tolerance must be minimal," Snoke responded, "These people have already abused their freedom too much. Their lives will be useful as a demonstration of our power".
But-
"But…" Kylo responded, "… what if the Republic learns of this? They will! And we've grown based on them thinking we're not too big of a threat. Won't this blow our cover?".
"Not it we appeal to the Republic's weak morale," Snoke fired back, "They disapprove of Neast's refusal to join, and already paint them as anarchists. All we need to do is feed that idea and then kill them. Their response to us relies on consensus, and killing their enemies will divide their votes. We won't be threatened".
"And you're sure of this?" Kylo Ren asked.
"Kylo Ren…" Snoke replied, approaching his apprentice and putting his hand on the boy's right shoulder, "I've told you of the Galactic Book Keeper. I didn't just pass by his collection. I learned about history. About previous Republics. I know how they work". Snoke then turns his head to the other Knights, "Prepare our shuttle and let General Hux know it's time to deploy his troops. Leave us". The Knights break lines and walk away, "I want you to lead them. If I'm ever gone, this will be all up to you. I hope it isn't too much for your mighty shoulders. I need you to realize that we will often do things you wouldn't have thought of years ago, but you are no longer Ben Solo. You are Kylo Ren… heir apparent to Darth Vader. Do as he would do, not as the boy you used to be would do".
He's…
He's right.
Is he?
Yes, he is. Why do you question him?
He's right.
"Now, let's go," Snoke concluded, "We have a mission".
Snoke and his legion departed Mustafar and crossed the galaxy to meet with a First Order fleet just outside Neast's atmosphere. The fleet was made up of ten Star Destroyers, and immediately when Snoke arrived, each Destroyer released over a hundred TIE fighters unto the atmosphere of the planet, as well as dozens of TIE bombers. Snoke's shuttle neared the atmosphere. Ben looked out to the fiery horror. Buildings fell apart and over smaller buildings. Some small ships attempted to fight back, but were outnumbered by the TIEs. And there was also the occasional ship that Snoke destroyed simply with a hand gesture and the Force. It was raining.
"My Knights!" Snoke said, dramatically, "It's time for you to go down on the ground. Our troops will give you a few minutes to slaughter the government on your own. Make me proud," a gate opened in the back of the shuttle, and a ramp led the way to smoke and rubble. The Knights approached the edge, preparing to arrive at their destination, awaiting their master's orders, "And Kylo Ren," Kylo turned to Snoke as he put on his armory helmet and secured his cape, "Remember who you are".
Kylo nodded and Force-pulled his lightsaber to his hand. It resembled the one he had back in the Jedi temple, but was now modified, with a hilt that allowed some heat from the crystal inside it to be released. It had been changed to a new one a few months prior, when he, Snoke, and the Knights visited Ilum, as it was in the process of being turned into a military base for the First Order, and he found many crystals. When he'd first joined the Jedi, he was given a limited choice for his lightsaber, but it was now time to be free. He could make his own weapon. And the new one was chaotic. It was a fiery red that resembled some old designs he'd read about in their travels. It had a broken crystal inside of it, but it was the one Ben wanted. It seemed more powerful, even though it was slightly more fragile and unstable.
Snoke ordered his Knights to jump down to the ground, and so they all leapt off the shuttle and landed in front of the burning capitol building. Some local troops surrounded it and fired at the Knights, but they easily avoided and blocked the blasts. Kylo Ren waved his hand and made everyone lose balance and fall to the ground. Then, before anyone had time to react, he jumped out into the battlefield, ignited his hellish sword, and began slashing down the troops, one by one.
"Nima, Norret, move forward," he signals the capitol building, "Six of you, stay here with me". And so six of the Knights remained with Kylo, aiding in his fight. Their weapons weren't lightsabers, though they had been specifically designed to be resistant to them. It was a nightmarish image. Seven dark warriors made their way through dozens of armed men indiscriminately. Unbeknownst to them, of course, the hopeful and idealistic governor Burnhar, of one of the major regions of Neast, was being carried away by his children, Barbo and Gallada. He was only half-conscious, as one of the first blasts from the TIE fighters had struck near him. The three locals walked right past the battlefield, and Burnhar was just conscious enough to see and hear what was happening.
"Resisting is useless!" Kylo Ren screamed, as he chopped off the head of a local trooper, "You were all dead from the moment we got here!" he Force-pushed two men all the way to the ceiling of the capitol, killing them before they even hit it.
You have to move on.
Kylo Ren made his way forward, approaching the building that his brothers had entered minutes ago. A small team of Stormtroopers landed in the battlefield right after, following their commander into the center of Neast's government.
Back inside his ship, Snoke connected with his apprentice, and sensed his spirit finally embracing the dark side fully. He smiled. His work had been a success. He'd created a new Darth Vader. And Kylo had the powerful Skywalker lineage. His power would be unmatched.
Snoke moved his hand and caused a building nearby to fall over and collapse.
Ben Solo was dead.
But, years later, the man who was once Kylo Ren was now returning from a day of fishing with Burnhar himself and the little Wille, son of the entire community. Ben was sporting usual black pants and boots, but as opposed to the usual black attire, he now wore a light beige shirt and a dark brown jacket with his sleeves rolled back. Wille is riding Ben's shoulders, and holding on to his head.
"Hey, we should swing by Ferrin's," Ben says, "Thank him for the new clothes".
"I'm glad you like them," Burnhar responds, "And I agree".
The three walk up the hill and the town is finally in sight, but a significant chunk of it is covered by a small shuttle. Ben goes into shock.
"What?!" he asks, terrified, "Where'd that come from?!".
They're here. I don't know this ship but someone found me.
They must all be dead.
No.
No.
No.
This couldn't have happened.
I failed.
This was all a mistake.
I killed them.
All of them.
I…
"Ben!" Burnhar yells. Ben comes back to his body and turns to where Burnhar points. The villagers hold a homemade sign saying 'Farewell, Ben. We love you'.
I…
"Burnhar, I…" Ben wipes his sweaty forehead and ducks, "Wille, I need you to climb off, please…". Wille gets off Ben's back and runs toward the villagers. Ben sits down on the ground and tries to regain his breath.
"Hey, we'll be there in a moment!" Burnhar tells the villagers, "I brought food. Set everything up!". He then gets close to Ben himself, "What's going on, Ben?".
"I just…" he responds, "I… wasn't… expecting this".
"Well, we've run into lost people like you in the past," Burnhar says, "And there are some half-made ships on a former hangar nearby. We do this. We rebuild them in a few months".
A small shuttle beams its way through the galaxy. Inside it is Cardo Ren, with one goal: to kill Rey. His shuttle enters Cloon's atmosphere, and he lands on top of a building, from which he can see a wide and incredible landscape.
Ben finally walks up to his villager friends and hugs each one of them, even the ones he barely got to interact with personally. The truth was that he had come to care about all of them as a group. They depended on and trusted each other fully. And it was contagious. Living in this way, where everyone seemed to be concerned about everyone, where no one person's problem wasn't in some way everyone's problem, was something he'd never seen. This was a solidary community. Like a family, but their bond to each other was voluntary and based on empathy.
They all sit down on a long table, as Burnhar, sitting on one end, passes along plates with slices of the fish they caught. Everyone gets a share.
"Before we start the fun part of eating…" Burnhar says. Everybody quiets down and looks to him, "which is the actual eating itself… I want to take a moment for all of us to think about how we get here. We've survived for half a decade just relying on each other. Not only that, but in a matter of months we managed to rebuild a ship, and we're here now, sharing a meal. This is more than most people in this planet had to eat on average about forty years ago, before I even got into office. Let us never forget that the kind of peace and trust and beauty of life that we feel today, which we also feel at times on other days, is a product of our care for each other. Free from greed, free from cheating, free from dishonesty, free from hate, free from privilege. Let us remember that there is nothing more powerful in the galaxy than the love we have for the people around us".
Everyone's eyes are closed, but Ben does look slightly distraught after the speech.
"All right, enough for the preaching, I'm sorry," Burnhar, "I was a politician. Speechifying is a requirement. Thank you for listening… let's get to it".
And the next hour or so is a moment of conflict for Ben. On the one hand, this is everything he's ever wanted. He could have a life here, away from every problem in the galaxy. On the other hand, though, he now has a ship. His lightsaber is in his room. He's healed. It's a silent conflict, but it does tear him apart slowly. Then, the question finally comes up.
"So, what are your plans, Ben?" Nil asks.
Ben turns to her, and his face is very revealing of what's going on inside his head. His lips twitch constantly and his forehead is severely wrinkled.
"I'm uh… I'm not sure yet…" Ben responds, "But I hope I know as soon as possible…".
"Well, it'd be great if you could give us a semblance of an answer before tonight," Hangred says, from across the table, "The weather makes me think there'll be a sandstorm, so we need to know if we'll put it away on a nearby cave or leave it here for takeoff".
"So it's leaving today or leaving tomorrow?" Ben asks.
"Not tomorrow. Last sandstorm we had lasted for almost ten days," Hangred responds, "And we have supplies to survive for that long, but yeah, it'd be ten more days of staying here".
That doesn't sound terrible. It gives me more time to think.
"Maybe I'll do that," Ben says, "Ten days to say goodbye to all of this… then leave, you know…".
Will I leave?
"What will you do?" Alexxo, the local medic, asks.
"I'm not sure," Ben responds, "I'll think about it".
I've got time.
"Can you help me with this jar?" Wille hands Ben a thick jar with some yellow fluid inside. It looks to be almost sealed. Ben tries to open it, and the effort makes his face get worryingly red.
Come on, I'm strong!
Don't be weak.
No.
"I think if you rotate the tip, it opens," Wille advices, even though it's what Ben is already trying to do.
"It's okay, I know what I have to do," Ben responds, patiently, "I just don't know if I'm strong en-". His hands loosen their grip on the jar, causing it to fall off his grasp, bounce on the table, and land all the way on the ground, crashing and letting out all of the fluid. Ben almost makes a grunt, and his breathing intensifies.
"Ben?" Burnhar asks, from the end of the table.
Ben's fingers tick and tremble, as if wanting to close into a fist. He closes his eyes.
That was the last thing he'd said to his father. Months ago. He told him he didn't know if he was strong enough, and then asked for his help, only to kill him. He killed him. Stabbed him right through the chest with his lightsaber.
And they would be no different, he thought. Reaching out, helping him, treating him like anything other than a monster, and he'd end up killing them. He'd been taking advantage of them for months, pretending not to care about the fact that he'd been a part of the massacre years earlier.
The guilt would consume him soon enough. And the superficial frustration with the jar simply added spice to the chaotic mixture of destructive feelings he was attempting to process. He didn't belong there. That's not who he was.
Stop.
Monster.
Ben spins out of his seat, stands up, walks a few steps away, rubbing his hands all over his face and hair, in frustration. Everyone stares quietly, unsure of what's going on.
Ben finally puts his arms down, his back still turned to the villagers on the table. Burnhar looks concerned, trying to hold back tears.
"I'm leaving…" Ben says, "But I have some last things to say to you all".
Goosebumps run through Burnhar's entire body. What was he going to do and say?
"I'm not who you think I am…" Ben says, as he walks around the table, his face still largely turning away from the people he came to care about, "And it's time to stop pretending," then he finally turns to them, with the child-like authoritative expression he'd gotten used to in his brief time as Supreme Leader, "I'm First Order Comander Kylo Ren," almost everyone around the table gasps in shock, "I've been using you for months to heal… and now I have a way out, and it's time for me to get back to who I am and what I do. This is my fate. This is my life," he then quickly puts his hand forward, summoning his lightsaber, which lands softly inside his grip, and turns on as the sun sets. The saber is even less stable now, almost looking like it's literally on fire now. Kylo Ren's face is a hellish red. Everyone around the table stands up and runs toward the village, except Wille and Burnhar. The former stands on the table, looking shocked.
"Why are you doing this, Ben?" the kid asks.
"Get out of my sight, petulant child!" Ren responds, getting into offensive position with his sword.
"Wille, please go…" Burnhar says, calmly, but sounding disappointed. Wille gets off the table and runs like crazy to the village.
Ren turns to Burnhar, the man who's been behind these months of care and love.
"You knew…" Ren mouths, as he walks a few steps closer toward Burnhar, "Didn't you?".
"No. I thought," Burnhar responds, "I saw you once and I heard you talk. And all the voice modifiers and masks in the world didn't significantly change the way you talked. You dressed the same way, you had your delusions of greatness, you were violent… and when you told me about who you were in the past, it tracked, but I still couldn't know for sure".
"Well, here's your proof," Ren says, menacingly, "Now leave!".
"I thought you were leaving," Burnhar responds, still appearing calm, "You said so".
"You must really hate me," Ren says, "After all of this… all of your hard work. You must want me dead right now. Especially knowing all that I did here years ago".
"Even assuming that you were Kylo Ren, I didn't want you dead," Burnhar responds, "And even seeing that you were a terrible and violent person, I didn't hate you. I felt sadness. No one is born as a monster. I cared and still right now care more about what's in your future. What you choose now".
"Who cares what I choose now?!" Kylo Ren yells, "I killed many and was complicit in the killing of countless more!".
"It sounds like you're the one that hates Kylo Ren…" Burnhar says.
"I am Kylo Ren!"
"Have you always been Kylo Ren?" Burnhar asks.
"Ye- No!" Ren fires back, "I chose to be Kylo Ren!".
"If you hate him so much, I'm not sure why you would choose to continue being Kylo Ren".
Ren tightens his grip on the saber and aggressively cuts down the table in rage.
"I hate you!" Ren screams. Then, Burnhar stands up quietly and walks away slowly.
Ren clenches his fists and teeth. A drop of blood slides down one of his teeth. He then summons black attire from his room and rushes to board the ship, silently.
And so, his ship departs Neast. Kylo Ren has returned.
The ship crosses the galaxies. Kylo Ren finally reaches out with the Force consciously for the first time in months, and his mind feels him. The man who'd reached out to him in his private moments, whose name he never knew. The man to whom the Knights of Ren had turned for guidance upon realizing they couldn't trust their master. The man behind his betrayal. And he was now sitting on the throne of Coruscant, as the head of what was once the First Order.
Coruscant. That's where he had to go to.
"Ben Solo…" Ducan says.
"I killed Ben Solo," Ren responds, "But I'm ready to take my place again. I pledge my loyalty to you. You and the Knights were right to turn against me. I was becoming weak. I needed to regain my strength".
"Then meet me here, on Coruscant," Ducan commands, "We have much to settle".
The dark lord makes his way to the center of the United Galactic Republic. His ship arrives at an elevated landing zone, where a small group of Stormtroopers, seven Knights of Ren, General Hux, and the Supreme Leader himself await. Kylo Ren walks out of the shuttle, and looks around at the city. It's changed a lot from when it was invaded a few months prior, but of course, he didn't see this because he was out of the picture then.
Ducan and Kylo Ren approach each other, and the latter kneels before him in desperation and shame.
"Kylo Ren. I'm glad to see you've reconsidered and now know your allegiances," Ducan says, "We had announced you as dead fighting for our new Republic, but they will buy that we were able to bring you back. We'll just say you were in a coma. It'll garner more support for us if they see you fighting with us, now knowing you are the son of Leia… or at least you used to be".
"Tell me what I must do, Supreme Leader," Ren says, still kneeling and looking down in weakness, "And I will enact your will".
Ducan smiles smugly.
"My loyal Knights," he turns to his faithful servants, "Prepare his quarters," and so the Knights make a reverence and enter the elevator to descend from the landing zone. Ducan again turns to Kylo Ren, "Stand up, commander. There is much you need to be aware of". Kylo Ren stands back up and walks alongside Ducan to another elevator. Hux follows them closely.
"We have a very precise purpose," Ducan explains. The three get into the elevator and close the doors, to begin descending. Hux remains quiet, "We have the wisdom to know that history repeats itself, and thus we have the responsibility of assuring this, of facilitating it. The United Galactic Republic is nothing but a re-branding of the Empire. See, a few decades ago, with the rise of the first Galactic Empire, the galaxy entered a new stage. But more accurately, it was just a rebranding of larger historical patterns. The Jedi and Sith power dynamics and the economic structuring of the galaxy have shaped the way we live for generations. Right now, the Jedi in name are dead. And so are the Sith. But it's again just an issue of branding. The Knights of Ren, led first by Snoke and now by me, and later by whomever it is that's the head of this Republic after me, are just repeating the Sith's role in history. Our newly branded Republic is merely repeating the role of the Old Republic, the Empire, and the First Order. The Rebellion is repeating the role of controlled opposition. It's all part of a cycle, see, and knowing this, how could we reject our duty of making it continue?".
"What does this mean for me?" Kylo Ren asks.
"Well, you are the new Vader," Ducan continues, "When Vader killed the Emperor, it gave the Rebellion a false sense of hope that things would get better, but the system is more powerful than that. More powerful than any one person. It was just a matter of time before Snoke took the Emperor's place, and you took Vader's place. And then, when you killed Snoke, well, it seemed like history would repeat itself. Snoke dead, you turned to the light but also dead… but you didn't die. You took the role of the Emperor, but I noticed that it was too much for you. You couldn't handle it. You were being torn apart. So I knew I had to come in, intervene, and reset things. Currently, I am the Emperor and thus you must be Vader. My loyal, unquestioning servant".
So does that mean that I will betray and kill him at the last minute and then die unceremoniously?
"And yes," Ducan says, after reading Ren's mind, "that does mean that you will inevitably betray me and kill me, and then die unceremoniously". The elevator opens, and the three heads of the United Galactic Republic now have a path to walk through, surrounded by Stormtroopers, all the way to the Senate Building.
"I want my mask reassembled," Ren says, coldly, "As soon as possible. And I want my first assignment to be equally soon". It's clear how desperately he wants to prove that he is, in fact, the terrifying, violent, inhumane Kylo Ren.
"I'll see what I can find for you…" Ducan responds, but the truth is he already has an idea.
"I noticed one Knight was absent, where is he?" Ren asks.
"On his way to Cloon on an assignment regarding Rebels," Ducan responds, "He'll be back soon".
And on the other side of the galaxy, Cardo Ren roams the streets at night, focusing deeply, trying to find the scavenger girl. He slows down his breathing, reaching out. And he senses his target on a nearby port, inside a room, deeply asleep.
Kylo Ren looks out the glass at the city. He holds back tears of frustration and hatred. The door to his empty room opens and Flurr Ren shows himself.
"Sidious wants to see you," he says, "I think he's got a mission for you".
"I'll be there," Kylo responds, "Th- It- It's been a while, Flurr".
Flurr does not respond. He just leaves. Kylo goes back to his angst and closes his eyes.
"You know what you have to do" he whispers to himself, and he hits the glass before him.
Minutes later, Kylo Ren enters the Throne Room, where Ducan awaits. As he walks in, a Stormtrooper hands him a newly constructed Helmet, which looks slightly fragile. The sections where the pieces have been fused back together look almost stitched, and still have a reddish tone due to the heat used. Ren puts it on.
"Welcome, my new apprentice, to your new life…" Ducan says, "And as your first official act in it, I need you to quiet down some issues we're having in a far-off planet we just recently began making our way into".
"What must I do?" Ren asks.
"We entered the desert planet of Tatooine about a month ago," Ducan explains, "And we've found some instability. Yesterday, a group of slaves rebelled against their master, and that master was a link with the United Galactic Republic".
"Slaves…" Ren repeats.
"Our troops will lead you to where we believe the slaves to be," Ducan continues, "And you will wipe them out… at least as many as you have to, until they pledge loyalty to our men".
"With all due respect, my lord," Ren responds, "Can't you just have our local troops handle the situation?".
"Surely you must understand the meaning this would have for you…" Ducan explains, "In any other circumstances, I might have them do it on their own, but when I knew you were coming, I knew this was perfect for you. After all, Anakin Skywalker was born as a slave on Tatooine. The circle will now be complete".
Ren remains quiet for a moment, and then he kneels.
"It will be done, my lord".
And he walks out of the room, as Ducan smiles.
Kylo Ren flies out of Coruscant on the shuttle he arrived in. The path is a quiet and somber road of mourning and resignation. This is his fate. And Ducan was right. That's where it all started. Anakin as a slave had been found, identified by the Jedi as the Chosen One, taken away without any interest in the well-being of his mother, indoctrinated to become a Jedi, which gradually destroyed his sense of identity for years, and Chancellor Palpatine finally offered him a path to power: becoming Darth Vader.
It was a path to power, right? It had to have been.
And so when Vader turned to the light and killed Palpatine, he had just succumbed to weakness, right?
Surely, if Kylo Ren was to believe that he was on the right path, he had to believe this. It couldn't just be that Palpatine exploited the flaws of the Jedi to destroy Anakin emotionally and was the only one to offer a path to him that acknowledged his power.
But why did power even matter?
It had to matter, if Kylo Ren was to be his life.
Did power matter at the expense of millions of innocents?
Again, Ren had to believe that it did. And, when he was young and resentful and naive and felt betrayed by everyone, believing it was easy for him, but would it continue to be easy?
Cardo Ren was walking by the hallway that led to all of the rooms in the port. He stopped by each door and took a few seconds to sense the people inside. Finally, he reached one door behind which he felt Rey. Quietly, he pulled out a contractible weapon: a spear that additionally had the top of an axe on one end, aiming both sides. He looked almost like an executioner. And, after all, that was the job he was assigned to do this time.
Cardo Ren touched the door and felt the internal mechanism. A few grids that would usually be open by typing in the right code on a small keyboard beside the door. It's not an issue for someone who knows the Force, to move them with his mind, thus opening the door.
To his shock, however, the door opening up emits a perpetual beep, so the Knight gets into offensive position with his giant axe, and searches for the exact location of his target, but Poe wakes up before everyone else and, almost without thinking, grabs his blaster and fires toward the door, hitting the intruder on the shoulder.
"What?!" Poe yells. Rey's eyes open and she raises her face. The light from the hall outside frames Cardo Ren as a monster of darkness. Rey instinctively extends her arm to summon Leia's lightsaber, as everybody else wakes up. The sword reaches Rey's hand, and it turns on, lighting half the room in green. Chewie grabs his crossbow, hidden under his bed, takes the safety off, and after roaring like a warrior, blasts it on the Knight's direction, but he jumps out of the way, landing amidst the lower level of the room, right in front of the barely-awake Finn, Rose, and Pohleen.
"What's g-?" Finn asks. Cardo Ren lunges at Chewbacca with his axe. The wookie just barely avoids it by taking a step back, but he falls back, dropping his crossbow in the process. He's exposed. Poe fires at the invader, who deflects the blast with his axe, causing it to bounce back to the young Rebel's hand, disarming and wounding him. Finn, Rose and Pohleen are still just barely waking up, trying to decipher what's going on. Cardo Ren raises his axe, in preparation to strike down Chewie. The wookie screams in fear.
The axe stops mid-air. Leia has woken up and is making the Knight stand still.
Rey seemingly comes out of nowhere, slashing Cardo Ren on the ribs. Ren recovers quickly and kicks Rey, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her saber. The room is mostly dark again, so the Knight takes the chance to make a swift move, throwing his weapon toward Leia.
"Leia!" Rey screams, extending her hand and stopping the axe mid-air. But the distraction proves dangerous. In the blink of an eye, Ren rushes to grab Rey's arm, throwing her to the wall. The bump against the wall echoes throughout the whole room, just as Cardo's axe falls to the ground. Ren waves his arm, Force-pushing back everyone in the room. He then Force-pulls his axe back into his hand and prepares for the final blow at Rey.
It can't end like this.
Rey reacts in a split second, Force-pushing Cardo Ren to the door. The Knight bumps his head on the doorframe and lands on the floor of the hallway. Rey gets back on her feet and grabs the saber again.
"All of you, stay here!" Rey commands, as she jumps onto the higher level, ignites the saber, and rushes to the door. Cardo Ren moves out of the way, standing back up. Rey slashes her saber madly several times in front of her, causing the Knight to step back. It's a tight space. Their weapons clash several times, damaging the walls around them.
In one strike from the scavenger, Cardo Ren Force-pushes her backwards, but she turns mid-air and Force-pushes herself back, landing on her feet and stabbing the Knight on his thigh. Cardo Ren screams in pain.
"Stop this before it gets worse!" Rey screams.
"No one's here to save you!" the Knight responds, then using his weapon as a spear toward Rey, but before he can react, Chewbacca has gotten out of the room and fired right at him, hitting him on the chest, thus ending his attempt at a final strike and leaving him unconscious on the floor.
"Thank you, Chewie…" Rey says, as she regains her breath. Chewie growls peacefully in response. Poe walks out to the hallway as well.
"What…?" he asks, approaching the scene, "What is he, some discount Kylo Ren?".
"We have to cuff him and immobilize him," Rey says, "Now".
Kylo Ren's ship lands in the Tatooine desert, and he's welcomed by ten Stormtroopers. He silently and ominously gets off the ship and a trooper steps out of line to talk to him.
"Sir, the village is nearby. Follow us to find the slaves".
"Show me the way" Ren responds.
The small group makes its way through the desert, and Ren's head goes everywhere.
I have to do this. No way around or out of it.
As they approach a humble village that looks like it just recently had a violent battle (with several houses having entire portions blown up, the road itself being heavily damaged, and many burnt tables and vehicles spread across the area, having been used as forts), Ren reaches out to find his targets. The troops walk carefully, trying to anticipate every and any possible strike from all sides.
It's just a few people. Just a few lives to take.
It'd been so easy years ago in Neast. Why wasn't it easy now?
No. It had to be easy.
As they keep walking, they see several corpses across the place. Mostly locals, but a few Stormtroopers as well. It looks like a warzone.
What?
Kylo Ren stops walking.
"Sir?" a trooper asks.
"There's only one person here…" Ren says, "There must've been a fight after the Supreme Leader notified me but before I got here… and only one survived".
Kylo Ren turns to a heavily bombed house on his left side.
"He's there…" Ren says, as he turns to walk towards it, "Stay out here".
Ren enters the house. The thick door is out of its frame, lying on the ground. It was blasted away. There are five bodies in this first room. All of them seem to be slaves. The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered up in dark spots, where blasters were shot. Ren stares at each corpse. His mask makes it impossible for his expression to be seen.
Ren walks through the door frame to the next room. There are even more corpses in this one, though three are Stormtroopers. So much violence and death. Ren opens what's left of the door to the next room. This one has no windows. The only light that comes in is through the space of the door itself. Ren enters and immediately locates his target.
There's a little kid, with blue skin and red pupils, and an unusually flat nose with no pores, wearing robes and still carrying part of a chain cuffed to his right hand. The child tries to cover his face, on the very corner of the room, opposite to where the door is.
Kylo Ren approaches him and turns on his lightsaber, which again flinches out of instability, looking like it will blow up any minute. The child uncovers his face, and looks up to the emotionless mask hiding Ren's face.
"Who are you?" he asks.
Ren slowly raises the saber, preparing to strike.
"Are you going to kill me for being a slave and wanting to be free and have my own life?" the child asks.
This is who I am.
I have to do this.
It's just one life.
This is who and what I am.
My choice.
Ren takes a deep breath as the child closes his eyes and covers them with his hands.
My choice.
The saber is turned off.
The child uncovers his eyes and opens them.
The barely reassembled mask is thrown to the ground in anger.
"I'm sorry"
This is who I am. My choice.
"I'm sorry about all of this. My name is Ben Solo," he says, then kneeling down to be face to face with the boy, "I will make this right… if you follow our trail, you'll find a small black shuttle. It's mine. Type in the code 703925, and wait for me. I'll take you somewhere safe. Let me distract the soldiers," he stands up to leave the room.
"You know that won't solve the problem, right?" the kid says, "I'm not the only slave in this planet, and this planet isn't the only place with slaves".
I know he's right. And I know I can help with this.
"You're right," Ben responds, "And I'll find a way. But right now I don't want you to stay here on your own. Get to my ship, I'll see you there".
Ben walks back and grabs his mask again, putting it back on his head and then walking out of the room.
"Search the rest, ahead of us, just in case!" Ben orders the troops. The ten troopers disperse to look inside each house. Ben looks back at the house he just came out of, and sees the boy discreetly walking away, toward the ship. Ben makes a half smile beneath the helmet.
For the first time, he's not lying to himself about it.
I know what I have to do.
Ben Solo is alive.
END OF PART II