Author's Note: Just a quick update! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Star Wars. I simply play in their world.

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"When darkness

branches to your

soul

light still

finds a way to

rise."

-Angie Wellend-Crooby

Kylo Ren

"Sir, scouts have spotted the Falcon leaving the Sinta Glacier Colony."

Now why would my mother send the flagship of her Resistance to an out of the way mining colony knowing the bounty I have on its capture?

"Who is in pursuit?"

"TIE pilots DT-7996 and RS-1852 pursued the Falcon to the Typhoon Nebula and," a pause over the comm that sparks my temper, "lost them."

"Explain. How did our pilots 'lose' the Falcon."

"Reports coming in now," another pause that tests my patience, "the pilot of the Falcon used a method of hyperspace-skipping, jumping between systems. Pilots unable to track their movements after second jump."

So they were using Han Solo's old smuggler trick to outrun my forces. Only two pilots in the Resistance could pull of that dangerous a maneuver.

Rey was one.

Poe Dameron, the lap dog of my mother, was the other.

"Recall the pilots, being searching last known coordinates of the Falcon and send all logs of Sinta activity to my personal datapad now."

The information uploads to the screen and I tap a section that catches my attention.

An inspection of the mining colony done hours ago and I search for the relevance of the inspection and to why the officer overseeing it remains unnamed.

There. A discrepancy in the ledger regarding the surplus material. A clerical error and no further action taken.

Yet the Falcon shows up hours later, staying for only a matter of minutes before fleeing?

My mother is not a foolish woman. Nor does she make reckless decision without weighing the cost first.

There was a reason the Falcon was so far into the Expansion Region and I mean to find out why.

I tap communications as I pull my mask into place.

"Prepare my ship and send word to the Night Buzzard to rendezvous with me at the Sinta Glacial Colony."

"Understood Supreme Leader."

I would go personally to see what secrets the Resistance were trying to hide this time. If I learned that Rey had been at the mining colony and was allowed to escape...

Perhaps it was time to remind my fighters that failure in the First Order was not an option.

Sinta Glacial Colony

A frozen chunk of glowing ice that sits floating in space comes into view and the Night Buzzard is already in orbit.

"Ushar, Vicrul with me. Kuruk stay with the ship."

"Understood Lord Ren."

I doubt I will need either of my Knights for this task. However it will serve as a reminder to those who are foolish enough to believe they can keep secrets from the First Order and get away with it.

"Bring me your Overseer. Now."

The Ovission who works the mines hastens to comply when Ushar steps forward, his war club still coated in the blood of his last kill.

"Yes, yes I'm coming. We're already behind schedule so who wants to see me...S-Supreme Leader!"

Another Ovission, though larger than his counterpart still has to look up when addressing me.

"Name and rank Ovission."

"B-Boolio, Supreme Leader. Overseer of Sinta Glacial Colony."

My mask filters the air I breath and yet I can still smell the sweat coming off of him.

The acrid stench of fear.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"No, Supreme Leader. I cannot think of any reason you would need to visit our mine."

He's lying to me.

"Ushar, Vicrul go and see what you can learn of the visitors to the Colony."

"As you command Lord Ren."

"V-visitors Supreme Leader? We're a simple mining colony. If you tell me what you are looking for we're more than happy to comply."

The chill in the air is starting to penetrate my armor and I pace softly to keep my blood circulating.

"I'll give you one chance to tell me the truth and keep your life. The Millennium Falcon was seen here barely an hour ago. Was there a woman on board?"

Despite the frigid air and the temperate control I see on his suit, the Ovission continues to sweat.

"Falcon? I have no memory of a ship by that name coming to Sinta-"

I tire of his evasions.

My saber ignites and the tip rests inches from his neck. Already his skin beings to blister from the close proximity. His panic sends him fleeing but it is a useless endeavor.

There is only the frozen wall behind him and death before him.

"You would do well to remember that I have little tolerance for traitors."

"I...Supreme Leader if you would..."

"Tell me, was she here?"

The Ovission sighs and drops the act. He glares at me with a defiance that just signed away his life.

"Yeah they were here but I won't tell you who I saw! You think you can get away with this? The Resistance is everywhere and you cannot stop us!"

A red haze settles over my vision and I let my temper slip the leash.

"Oh I don't think, I know."

The Force obeys my will and I wrap my power around him as I slowly cut off the oxygen to his lungs. His defiance fades as instincts take over, the desperate need to survive as he claws at his chest in effort to breath.

Since he will not tell me what I want to know, I shall take it from him. I rip from his mind every secret, every thought he futility tries to conceal.

A cascade of images appearing in my mind's eye. I discard all but the ones that I am searching for.

….the unknown datafile in his datapad...marks of the First Order appearing in the encryption time stamp...

...the faces of Poe Dameron and the renegade Finn...

"Get this to Leia...she'll know what to do with it...good luck Resistance!"

I pull out of his mind and drop him to his knee's.

"Who was the officer who gave you that datafile?"

I have a traitor among my ranks but the face of that traitor was not among his collected memories.

The overseers makes retching noises as I let the breath seep back into his body.

"W-wouldn't you...like...to know..."

He has the audacity to sneer at me even as his copper-tinge blood dribbles down his face.

He has nothing more to offer me.

"You should have chosen your loyalties better Boolio."

He spits his blood at my feet nearly hitting my boots.

"I don't regret any of my choices. Can you say the same?"

My patience with him is done. I turn away but not before my saber cuts through his neck, relieving his body of its head.

I pick it up by the horn, the shock of death permanently fixed into his skin.

This will be useful for what I have planned next.

I stalk through the corridors carry his head in my grasp and I watch the rest of the miners scatter in my wake.

A pity that a lightsaber cauterizes the flesh. A trail of fresh blood along the icy floor would have made a better impact.

"Ushar, Vicrul. We have Resistance sympathizers on this colony. I want them eliminated. Return to your ship when you are finished and continue the search for the scavenger."

I sweep my gaze across the terrified miners and offer them this ultimatum.

"My Knights have no mercy. If you do not want your death to look like this," I hold up the head of the their overseer, "then give up the traitors. Your Resistance will not come to aide you. We are here. Make your choice or die by them."

Cries of despair...of defeat...and a few of celebration follow behind me as I leave this frigid glacier.

My TIE glides through space, my course set for the Steadfast.

My hunt for Rey will not wait and until she is found I will have no rest.

Ben...

...that name whispers through my mind, spoken in a lilting voice that carves through the fault lines of my soul...

...be careful.

Aching words wrapped in a lovers caress and her image comes to vivid life in my mind.

Tendrils of hair curling in the humidity that clings to her skin...a smudge of dirt across her brow...lips that are chapped from biting them...lids closed so that her lashes cast dark shadows on pale skin...

Her face is so clear to me that I reach out unthinkingly to stroke the delicate arch of her cheekbone, to reassure her that I am alive and well.

For a moment I can feel the heat of her skin against my glove and her eyes open, amber flaring into topaz that pushes at the darkness inside me.

Her image dissolves like a ripple across still waters.

But I know what I saw...what I felt...and it burns through the chill grafting my bones .

Her mouth can spout off all the pretty words of denial she wants but her actions speak the truth.

She cannot turn away from me.

I patch into communications to make sure that my next command reaches my fleet.

"I want all senior officers on my flag ship within the hour. Report to the conference room."

I glance down at the head of Boolio and feel my lips curl into a sneer.

Time to hunt down the traitor and inform them of what awaits us in Exegol.

Let us see who flinches and who stands firm.

The Steadfast

"I don't see why he's called this meeting all of the sudden."

Trust General Hux to be the first to question my orders as soon as he arrives. It seems his time among my Knight's has not curbed his tongue.

"Are we errant children he feels the need to check up on whenever he pleases?"

Silence over the comm that is recording everything in the conference room. I want to hear what my Council has to say when they think I am not around.

"I too am curious as to the abrupt nature of this meeting. Kylo Ren has become erratic since returning from Exegol."

General Quinn. Like Hux he has no comprehension of the Force. I am not surprised to hear his voice raised against me.

Despite his superior knowledge in ground tactics he lacks the subtly that makes an effective leader.

"Erratic? Our Supreme Leader has returned from the Unknown Region, a feat that hasn't been seen since the Old Empire and here you two quarrel over a simple meeting? I am quite eager to hear what he has to say."

General Engell. I make a note of her loyalty and will remember to reward her dedication.

But it is time make an end of this.

I have a time-table to keep and an Empress to find.

The door slides open and I see the heads of my generals turn in my direction.

Hux pales, impossible as it seems, further upon seeing the face I now wear.

Or perhaps it is my lack of face he cannot see that disturbs him.

General Pryde lifts an aristocratic eyebrow in my direction but holds his tongue.

All of my generals are silent, some looking at me with wary hesitation and others with open pride.

I lift the head of the Ovission I have kept hidden in the folds of my cloak and toss it into the middle of the table, the metal rattling when it lands heavily.

Hux, Quinn and even Commander Trach visibly flinch when it comes to rest.

"Who is this unfortunate Supreme Leader?"

Pryde, his tone betraying neither shock nor surprise. He has too much experience in the political arena to be so easily manipulated by his emotions.

"The overseer of Sinta who, somehow, managed to pass on classified information to the Resistance."

"What information Lord Ren?"

Admiral Griss. He appears loyal but I am aware that he looks to Pryde before carrying out my orders. I choose to answer to see how my words affect the Council.

"The existence of Exegol and the fleet that is hidden there. No doubt they have also learned that Palpatine is alive."

A ripple of unease, their emotions leaking out as they brush along my Force sense.

Anger, a hot pulse beneath my skin. But there is another emotion that runs deeper.

Fear and trepidation.

"So someone has turned traitor. Then they have chosen death."

Again Pryde speaks and I note in the reflected glass that the rest of the assembly has turned to heed his words.

"We will find them and eliminate this traitor, Supreme Leader. We will teach them what it means to defy the First Order."

I sense no lies. For the time being, until he proves otherwise, I will trust his loyalty to the First Order.

"I leave the task to you Allegiant General. I trust your search will be a quick one."

The stars, though muted through the lens of my mask, glow in darkness of space and my thoughts turn to Rey.

"Is that all then Supreme Leader? Surely you could have communicated this through your personal channel rather than take us away from our duties."

I listen to the disapproval in all that General Quinn doesn't say. I am aware that he feels I am not suited to leading the First Order and I grow tired of his dissent.

"In twenty-four hours the fleet of the Sith Eternal will leave Exegol and this war will be over...and a new empire will emerge."

"Lord Ren? How is that possible?"

General Engell asking the question and because she has show me loyalty I answer.

"A Destroyer for every planet in the galaxy. They will pledge their fealty to the First Order or they will be eliminated."

I hear the collective gasp that a few cannot stifle quickly enough.

Again the emotions swiftly change and wash over me.

Anticipation, greed, a hunger for power.

Fear and reservation I also sense.

"How magnanimous of Palpatine to simply offer us his fleet for our use." Quinn sneers, "no doubt the Force has shown him the empire he expects us to build. Forgive me, Supreme Leader, if I don't quite grasp the reasoning behind his largess. What does he expect in return? Are we now obliged to follow the orders of a person who has been considered dead for thirty years? I trust you did not make any rash promises...gah..."

I have just cut off his ability to breath. I am not a boy to be manipulated by a man who has overstepped his authority. I will no longer tolerate any challenge to my right to lead.

His face has turned a mottled shade of purple and still he continues to fight against my control.

"Palpatine requires only that we retrieve the scavenger girl who believes herself to be a Jedi. When he has her he will begin the Final Order."

"Then we will kill her." Hux speaking so casually of her death that my temper slips and I shove Quinn into the farthest wall.

The snap of his spine and the audible crunch of his skull as he lifelessly drops to the ground can be heard in the sudden silence.

"She is not to be harmed." I pause and turn to stare at the man who thought that he was my better when we both served under Snoke. "I will bring her to Palpatine."

Hux drops his eyes to stare at his reflection in the polished metal.

"I sense...unease in you General Hux. Does something about my appearance bother you?"

I can taste his fear and I watch as he pulls trembling hand beneath the table where no one can see his cowardice.

"N-no Supreme Leader. I believe your new look...to be an improvement."

There it is, the insult framed as a compliment.

"Lord Ren," I turn my attention away from Hux to Parnadee, "Where do we start looking for the scavenger?"

"I have my Knights hunting her as we speak. We'll know soon enough. In the intern," A crack like thunder rolling through space and all of my Generals rise to see a new Destroyer enter the void, "here is a preview of our new fleet that awaits in Exegol."

"That is Xyston-class Destroyer."

"Correct Admiral Griss."

"Magnificent."

Pryde standing next to me, a look of avarice on his aged face. "With these there will be no stopping the First Order. The galaxy shall live to see the rise of your new empire."