Chapter 41 - Rain of Fire

Takodana

Beneath the Jedi Temple

"I am going to eviscerate you, Sith!" the modulated words were punctuated by the energy maul singing through the air for Kylo Ren's head. To his left and right, two more of the black armored Paladins were closing in to target his legs, and behind him the droids and Storm Commandos were either locked in combat or being put down.

With only a millisecond to spare, Kylo feinted the appearance of blocking with his blade to draw his opponents in. They didn't disappoint, closing in like wolves, and Kylo drew his body down in one smooth movement to slam his fist into the ground. He was tempted to just punch straight through and perhaps drop the room into the sewer below, but he also doubted the integrity of the roof above him.

Instead, he exercised restraint as his fist hit the ground, generating a powerful telekinetic blast that cratored the floor but did not break it and in turn sent a wave crashing all around him. The blast floored everything, including his allies. In a way though, he suspected that helped, but already the Paladins in front of him were recovering with a swiftness that was inhuman, even for a Force User.

He knew why. They'd been trained by Jedi Master A'Sharad Hett himself in the Teras Kasi martial arts, allowing them to move and react almost as fast as one blessed with the Force. Additionally, he suspected that they'd been modified; perhaps in the same chemical way the Storm Commandos behind him were. The unfortunate difference though was that while the Commandos had been designed to be superior soldiers, the Paladins were made to kill him: a Lord of Ren.

That much was reflected when he threw a telekinetic push at one of the Paladins powerful enough to leave a dent in the stone wall, while the others were already closing in. He stepped back, his fingers flexing the loose and broken stones on the ground and hurling them at them like missiles. They weaved and dodged like mist, contorting their bodies to avoid the incoming attacks while using the momentum to lunge themselves forward.

Kylo met them head on, weaving a string of attacks into conservative swings, each one meant to hit them both in the same bout before coming down again. The Paladins dodged his attacks, if barely; using their mauls to parry his saber while attempting a repost. The Lord of Ren did not afford them this and however fast they were, they could never be as fast as him.

He realized they didn't have to be, when his blade finally caught a Paladin across the chest. Instead of lacerating the pectoral or putting a scorch line across his bodyplate, it struck something with the flash of blue and the crackle of ozone. Instinctively, he took advantage of the momentary shock to send his opponent across the room, then swinging his arm to catch his flankers attack vector and strike him across his gaunt helmet with the lightsaber.

He felt the impact even through his fingers, but amazingly the Paladin took the blow in stride and rolled past him to disengage a few yards away. Kylo watched him go, noting now the shimmering blue outline around his body reflect and then disappear in a moment. They were wearing body shields.

So, Rey's father did get it working, then, Kylo mused softly, noting the sudden shift in the air. He saw the two he'd thrown coming at him, but they weren't what he'd sensed.

"Your time has come, Sithspawn!" they growled, and he realized they were baiting him. In the moments before they closed, he stretched his senses out and noted that while their disciplined minds made them hard to read, even their honed movements had to generate sound. He heard the soft pull of metal on leather, and he spun with his hand extended.

There, the first man he'd thrown had gotten around him and was drawing what looked like a heavy caliber slugthrower. At this range, he knew he wouldn't be fast enough to catch the round, and he suspected it was probably flechette or maybe even a time-charged explosive. So he instead extended his reach and pulled at the man's aiming arm just before he pulled the trigger.

The round whipped past his head by millimeters, and he heard the dull plop as it struck something fleshy behind him. He didn't let go however, now extending his control over the man's shooting finger. He pressed it, discharging a round and he ducked, another plob echoing behind him.

In that moment, the Paladin's other hand dropped the maul and something cylindrical went out. The Lord of Ren extended his hand out just in time to stop it three feet out, crushing the stun bomb as he did and throwing it hard at the man's helm. The blow stunned him, the shield flashing as it did, and Kylo used that moment to force the man's gun onto him and shoot.

The impact sent him upward, the explosive tip detonating against the shielding. It didn't penetrate, but the man also didn't get up either and Kylo felt his slow heartbeat. Concussive force seemed to do it then, and he mentally communicated this to the two Storm Commandos. They immediately acted on this, switching from trying to shoot or intercept their attackers with their vibro-knives to grappling with their opponents.

Kylo had a newfound respect for the pair, taking blows that even their enhanced physiology was struggling to negate and kept going. Ironically though, the BX Commando Droids were faring poorly, and he suspected that even their droid processors were struggling to keep up with the Paladins movements. That made sense: they didn't fare well against Jedi, either.

He spun then, sensing the previous pair coming at him. They had their guns drawn and shooting, Kylo pushing his hand out desperately to catch the shots in the air. He knew what would come next, and he poured his energies into a defensive shield just before the explosive charges blew. The concussion was harsh, forcing him back as the pain hit him like a wall. He pushed through it though, sending that energy forward with a push that sent one attacker reeling away.

The other however had thrown himself in the air and contorted out of the way. In the milliseconds it took for him to fall, the Paladin fired another shot and took advantage of Kylo's duck to bring his maul crashing into his helm. The blow was reeling, his helmet monitors flickering madly as he felt his nerves stiffen and his head swimming.

He was conscious he was keeling over, and he felt another blow hit him hard in his spine. Even with the armor he wore, the blow sent a ripple of hot pain through him and his brain was fighting to stay conscious. A small part of him wanted the darkness to claim him; to let the nightmare end. The idea sickened him, enraged him, and he felt that rage wash over him hotter than any pain could.

He'd come too far now for it to stop here, and with that he checked his fall by stomping his foot down, bracing there and then slamming his fist into the Paladins' faceplate. He felt his fist pass through the shield, its electricity burning him slightly as he made contact with polymer and metal with a satisfying crack.

As the man flew and flopped like a cold fish, he heard the groan of his final attacker trying to rise. Kylo had the temptation to skewer the man, but he held his rage in check and settled to instead pull him over and slam his head into the ground. The man was out in the moment of contact.

Kylo panted and turned to the others, finding the Commandos and only three of the droids left desperately trying to hold on. Unlike him, they'd not even managed to bring down even one of the Paladins, and Kylo knew they weren't going to last much longer.

He made a split second-decision, and communicated it mentally to the Troopers before he enacted it. He wrenched his hands forward and yanked the humans and droids to him. The droids were utterly confused by what was happening, but the Storm Commandos took it in stride; shooting even as they were flying and continuing to shoot as they landed.

The Paladins however were hot on their heels, drawing their sidearms as they charged. The Lord of Ren in turn ignited his saber, preparing to meet their assault with his own and buy the others breathing space when he felt the heavens cry out in terror. The ceiling caved in above and started to fall.

The Pirates were in retreat. To the few greenhorns that was a cause for celebration, but not for the veterans. Though they'd badly hammered the invaders, they hadn't shown any indication of giving up. In fact, they'd been practically throwing themselves at their lines with a kind of desperate courage the men of the Fighting First found both inspiring and heartbreaking.

But now they were retreating en masse, both at once and in an organized fashion. That indicated this had not been a panicked rout, but instead men following orders.

"Do we go after them?" Merrick asked.

"No, for all we know this is some kind of bait and switch," Han's voice came back on the line, suddenly going grave, "or something else. Rey, Finn, get up here pronto."

Finn's grip on his weapons tightened as he complied, looking and listening for the signs of another attempted bombing run or another drop pod attack. He found none, and their absence did more to worry than console him. The Pirates had displayed a kind of creativity that made them unpredictable. What were they up to now?

As he ascended the hill, he saw Rey coming his way. Then out of nowhere she stopped, her eyes going wide. Her mind reeked of panic.

"Master?" Finn asked, "Rey? Are you okay?"

She looked up at the sky, and Finn opened his senses to try and understand what was going on. When he did, he heard Poe screaming, They're firing! They're firing! Get out of there!

Rey's arm shot forward, and Finn was sent flying off his feet. In the mere moment of his sudden flight, emerald fire rained from the heavens and came crashing down. The ground were he'd been cratored upon impact, sending debris and vaporized layers shrieking into the air before they too came raining down.

As he righted his trajectory and landed with grace, the skies wept and the forest began to burn like the Seven Hells had been unleashed.

"Cover!" a Ranger screamed through his comm's, "Get to the tunn-" another bolt struck the hill ahead with a billowing explosion, and the voice cut out.

He could see them coming now: the emerald bolts of death soon to tear apart the valley with wanton destruction. He could hear the screams coming, feel the death starting to rise in his bones. He wanted to scream, the sound was starting to overwhelm him. It was though he was drowning!

"FINN!" were it not for Merrick's scream, he would not have lived the next ten seconds. Two bolts came, then three. He ran and ran for all he was worth as the ground trembled with such terror that Finn was sure the world was coming undone. All around him, men were being vaporized by the falling fire, and even when they didn't, the molten glass and rock bombs they produced did.

They came raining down like a creeping barrage, tearing survivors to pieces upon impact. Sometimes, even the very heat they generated was enough to cook them alive. In moments, the air was choked with smoke and ash, making it almost impossible to see or breathe even with the visored helmet Finn wore. Already his eyes were weeping from contact and his throat was become a ragged mess of hacked coughing.

"Finn!" Merrick's voice came on again, "Get over here you idiot! Over here!"

He looked and saw a silhouette waving at him like a maniac, almost getting glassed in the process. He sprinted in his direction as fast as he could as the Sergeant Major led everybody caught in the barrage in the direction of the retreating Pirates. Finn could see the logic, and the faint hope that they might be able to outrun the rain of fire above.

That hope died when Finn saw the impact tearing them apart seconds before it did. He screamed for them to move, but he had no idea the effect he had when the prediction became real and he was thrown head over head. The world became a massive blur of ash, screams and continuous waves of pain as he flew over the lip of the hill and down it.

He tried to correct his landing, tried to grab onto something to stop himself but the ceaseless barrage kept shaking the ground too much. Even trees growing on the slope started to fall after him, and it was all he could do not to be crushed by them as he kept falling. This made him utter helpless as he slammed into everything else going down, his body screaming in agony as the breath was knocked from him and his brain swam.

He was seeing white then, only dimly aware that he was flopping over again and the ground was coming for him. He fought for control, to try and get his body to move, but in the end he was greeted only by a darkness that took him the moment he hit the ground.

"Closing in for an attack run, Black Leader!" the K-Wing squadron commander called over the comm, "Keep us covered as we go in!"

Poe's hands tightened around his control throttle. Every instinct he had screamed at him to charge in and tear apart the Acclamator-II killing his friends below. He was tempted to do it, too. The ship had been designed for ground suppression, and even the pirates had only been able to attach a finite number of point-defense systems. He could got for the bridge or-

"Black Leader, do you copy?"

Poe's eyes ran down to his instrument panel, where BB-8 typed out in blocky Aurabesh letters: Don't be stupid. I don't wanna die with you.

Poe sighed and nodded begrudgingly, pulling on his comm, "I hear you, Silver. Follow us in and atomize the bastard."

"With pleasure!"

Poe gunned the throttle and pulled his craft up, followed closely by the rest of Black and Silver Squadron as they shot for the underbelly of the Assault Cruiser. The pirates had attached additional weapon systems on the underbelly of the craft, no doubt using its incredible storage capacity for additional power plants. To leverage its firepower effectively, the Acclamator had to tilt down at a forty-five degree angle and party expose its underbelly.

The X-Wings soon cut a long trail of wanton destruction of Ion and Proton Torpedoes that hammered away at the Cruisers shields. This was followed by the K-Wings unleashing their own payloads of bombs, torpedoes and missiles, causing the shielding to violently convulse and even buckle the craft itself.

Quad-lasers and missile barrages soon retaliated, peppering oversized bombers they as slowly came around. Their chainguns opened up as soon as the missiles came into range, ripping them apart desperately as they arched up like the hand of a clock. Above them, Black Squadron came down counter-clockwise, hitting the Cruiser with another onslaught of munitions before the K-Wings returned to finish the job. After another run, the shields crackled out in a mass eruption.

"Alright boys and girls, pour it in!" Poe commed as the squadrons did just that. Even the Acclamator-II's impressive hull plating couldn't survive consecutive attacks, and was soon being torn apart from a series of micro-explosions. Entire decks were exposed, venting atmo and personnel as heat and power sensors indicated the ships' subsystems were failing and fires were consuming whole parts of the ship.

A moment later, the ship was pulled into the planet's atmosphere; its damaged engines struggled to keep it afloat. All this did unfortunately was push the cruiser into an even steeper angle.

"Silver to Black Leader, me and my boys are going to make another run on the engines. See if we can't push it into a burn-out," the bomber commander reported as they took off after the dying craft.

"Acknowledged, Silver. We'll-" suddenly his senses screamed seconds before his ship alarms did. He whipped his head around to see squadrons of Vulture Droids coming for them. Rather than running, the daredevil pilots whipped their craft around and gunned their afterburners, hurtling them into the enemy formation as they opened up with their laser cannons and canister missiles.

Shields flared as crimson and debris flew, the two sides ripping into the other like ragged wolves fighting over a kill. Subconsciously, Poe's eyes ran up to the deep visual display, seeing that the Old Man were throttling Sydow's forces into a tightening perimeter. The thought of the New Republic's ship superiority even when badly outnumbered died as soon as it was born when Poe realized they were now coming in range of the pirate capital ships. Alarms soon rang out as lock-on warnings and energy signatures ran across his channel.

Individually, turbolasers wouldn't do much against nimbler snub fighters, but caught in a deadly close in fight with the droid fighters. That much was proven as crimson bolts tore across the vacuum and ripped into the droid fighters chasing them. Those caught in the initial blasts were vaporized, but the others were collectively turned into thousands of super-sonic fragments.

BB-8 reporting shields dropping 15% and then to 9% as the fragments tore into his fighter. Looking over his shoulder, Poe saw the rest of the squadron wasn't doing any better. Lu'lu's starboard engines caught fire, an S-foil was ripped from Snap's stern, and Deliah's fuselage was turned into a wragged pincushion.

"Black Leader!" her desperate voice rang out before an explosion rocked ahead and her X-Wing was sent tailspinning, falling apart as it did. Poe's heart raced when he saw her cockpit floating in broken pieces. Poe hit his afterburners again, using his remaining shields to smash his way through the droids in his way as he struggled to catch up with the crippled X-Wing.

"Black Two, talk to me! Come in!"

There was no response. Poe pulled on his targeting computer to fire a toe-cabal, but the debris made it impossible to form a lock. Desperation filled his mind as his shields went dead from incoming fire. He could feel the same desperation from his pilots, fighting desperate to stay alive amidst the melee.

'Feel?' He suddenly caught himself. All the stories his mother and the Old Man had talked about came back in perfect clarity, and his browed creased as he understood what he needed to do. He put aside the computer and focused his mind on the fighter ahead, now just a body with no wings.

In that moment, the fighter stopped moving as everything else muted away into the background. He held it in his mind, seeing all the calculations coming in nano-seconds, his hands wrapping around his joystick, and he fired. A split second later, the tow-cabal blasted away with an exhaust of compressed oxygen and slammed into Deliah's fuselage.

"BB-8, reverse thrusters hard, now!" and soon his X-Wing began pulling hard on Deliah's, correcting its momentum and reeling it in. A laser bolt struck him across the bow and everything went whirling red. He looked to his side and could now see smoke trailing out of Engine 3. More laser blasts tore holes in his armor plating as the droids closed in all around him.

They didn't finish the job though as an arching trail of munitions suddenly tore them to pieces. Poe looked up and saw massive k-shaped forms zoom overhead, their fuselage guns ripping apart the enemy below as their thick armor soaked up the damaged. A boisterous voice came on the line, "Hang on, Cowboys! We got you covered!"

Poe didn't wait for an invitation, using his remaining engine power to yank Deliah's crippled craft to him. It was then that he saw her still strapped in her cockpit, and soon after felt a heartbeat.

"Silver Leader, I need an immediate pick-up," he commed, "one of my pilots-"

"I see her, Black Leader. Stand by, I'm on my way. Silver 2 and 3, keep the front covered."

"Black Leader," Lu'lu's voice came on the line, "we're gettin' our tuckuses kicked out here! I'm losing lateral power in two of my engines, and my weapon systems are dead!"

Poe nodded. There was no way they could make it through the enemy blockade at this point, not even with the K-Wing's bravely acting as big laser magnets. No, there was only one place left to go. "Acknowledged. Everyone rally on me. We're gonna make a break for the planet. Silver Leader-"

"Almost got her, stand by." Ahead, he could see the K-Wing's aft-doors open as crew members attached cabal lines to Deliah and began pulling her up. As soon as they were clear, the combined squadron raced for the world below, the Vulture Droids hot on their tails

At first, there was nothing but a chilled darkness that slowly broke to gray. For a long moment, Kylo Ren couldn't understand what it was. Everything felt cold to the touch, and even moving felt like he was submerged or being bound by heavy weights. He tried to clear his mind, but he found the cobwebs too strong there. What had happened?

He heard a noise. It was distant, like a voice screaming from miles away. No, it wasn't screaming. He swore it sounded like a drum, and he forced himself to turn his head. The effort was lethargic, and that helpless feeling enraged him. He would not be caught helpless again, not after-

Something fell on his helmet, stones he realized after a moment, and he realized his visor cracked on the right side of his vision. "Ah hell," he groaned with a strained whisper, "I just got this thing fixed."

Everything else started to come in then. The drumming sound was an alarm somewhere off in the distance, and he noticed a pale light creeping through somewhere ahead. The damp coldness was identified as wet concrete, and turning his head revealed a burst pipe spurting water on him.

He became aware that he was kneeling, his arms subconsciously locked to his side with open palms pointed up. When he looked up, he saw the stone ceiling was being held precariously in position just a few inches short of crushing them… them? He looked around, realizing that the others, including the enemy, were all lying prone and unconscious.

That observation brought with it the return of a throbbing pain in his arms and mind. He looked up again, wondering just how long he'd been holding this damn ceiling up? It didn't matter. All that did was that he would not die here, not certainly to this kriffing rock. He forced his agonized brain to focus, reminding himself that size didn't matter. There was the Force, and only the Force.

"Yeah right," he grumbled, tapping into another lesson he'd learned. Pain is strength, anger a raging fire to be harnessed. He focused on this, using that flame burning in him to add to his might and soon he felt the stone starting to move.

"I will not die here," he cursed, his voice growing louder as he did, "I will not die here!"

An inch, a foot, a yard. The stone scraped against the wall as it rose, loose debris falling in the process. Ahead, he saw the light growing larger and larger, and hope stirred in him. He heard a groan to his side, and Eighty was the first to comment in dumbfounded awe and horror, "Sweet Solstice. How long you been holding that damn thing up?"

"A while," he groaned, shifting his arms to a more balanced position.

"We've been out almost five minutes," Ones added in disbelief.

"I learned from the best," he gritted his teeth, slowly flexing his arms up like he was holding a deadweight, "move towards the hole."

"I don't think so," the modulated voice was emphasized by the cocking of a gunhammer. Kylo didn't need to look down to know who had him at gunpoint. He could sense his mind, and others starting to stir. He also sensed the Commandos pulling their weapons up, but he knew they wouldn't be able to stop him from taking an explosive bolt to the chest.

"Shoot me, we all die," Kylo said in the gloom, shifting the stone to a more comfortable position. He noticed another problem: more and more loose stones falling even when he'd stopped moving. How much longer was the ceiling going to stay in one piece?

"I'll gladly make that trade," the Paladin replied, "if it means putting you down, Sith."

Kylo craned his head down to look at him blankly, "If you meant that, I'd already be dead by now. Consider your men-"

"Don't," he replied, strangely without malice, "don't you dare, not after what you and your ilk brought on us."

"Then shoot me."

The Paladin considered it for a long moment, his fingers tightening in anticipation. Then he released it, his other hand going up to his ear. There was confusion in his mind, then begrudging acknowledgement. He holstered his sidearm. "The boss wants to talk."

"Of course he does," Kylo replied, feeling the Commandos looking at him strangely, "Troopers, the hole. Pull it open, and hurry! I don't know how much longer I can hold this."

The remaining Paladins eyed him with a suspicion beyond merely loathing him. 'He didn't tell them,' he thought as he slowly started to back through the largening hole before stepping through. As he did, they quickly found the hole he'd gotten in through and dropped down.

The moment he was out, the ceiling caved in; much to the thankful applause from his body. The strain dropped him to his knees, feeling every fiber and muscle torn, burning. He focused his mind beyond the pain to something brighter, a moment of sweet realization he treasured forever; wrapping his arms around himself as he harness the energy within to soothe his wounds.

A full recovery would take hours, but a minute felt good enough. Time wouldn't allow for anything else as the Temple fell apart around them. They moved quickly, dodging falling stones and creeping through hallways of dead and dying men. They all looked at him with scorn, and he wondered just how long their discipline was going to last.

A minute of nostalgic ghosts and daymares followed. He pushed them aside; he wasn't here for them and he'd made peace with what he'd done to get to this point.

Have you, Apprentice?

He froze. The voice was familiar as it was deadly impossible. What if it wasn't though? What if she…? He shook his head. A trick of the temple, nothing more. He pressed on with the others close to his heel until they reach what he recognized to be their secure data storage bunker. He'd counted on that, of course. Otherwise what they'd come here for would've been fried too.

A team of heavily armed men appeared, their blasters held at the ready droids and commandos tensed, but Kylo bade them to stand ready. He stepped forward to address the pointman, "Well?"

"Just you," he growled, "any funny business, and y'all ain't leaving here alive."

"The same goes for you," he replied as he brushed past them to enter the hallway ahead. The blastdoor closed behind him and the one ahead opened with a deliberate slowness. He approached carefully with unignited saber at the ready, his sense stretching into the room. He could feel one presence there, but there was something odd about the room. It didn't feel right, but he didn't know why.

"So, I take it that you're Kylo Ren," a voice called. Kylo entered the dataroom to find the silver-haired spy master standing in front of a desk, smoking away at his pipe. His sidearm was still in it holster.

"Let's not stand ceremony here, Master Shrike. I'd be disappointed if you hadn't guessed who I am yet."

Jacen's hard face creasing as he grinned sardonically at him, "Sure, kiddo. Explain yourself."

"I'm here for the map Dameron took from Lor San. Hand it over."

"Or what? You'll skewer me like you did the professor?"

Kylo's hand instinctively tightened around his saber, "His death was unavoidable. At least it was quick."

"Really? Ha!" he pointed his pipe at him, "Y'know he thought very fondly of you when you were a little ozik-faced brat. Sure, you were a pain in the tuckus, but you at least had an opinion. And look at you now, playing at being Vader."

Kylo was about to rise to the bait, but he stopped himself. "I'm not here for a lecture."

"But you're going to get one!" Jacen snapped, coming within striking distance as he pointed an accusing finger at him, "You had a job to do: deliver us the enemy! Instead, you went against everything your master taught you! Everything your parents suffered for! You joined 'em, and you led 'em here! So, answer my damn question, kiddo. Explain yourself."

"Oh, I am completing my mission, Master Shrike. But I have one of my own now."

"What the hell's that mean?"

"Damask is not a trusting man. But this will get his attention, and a personal audience."

True horror dawned on Jacen's face at that cryptic revelation. "That wasn't your mission, boy. What, you trying to one-up your aunt now?"

"No, just doing what needs to be done."

"How? By betraying us?"

"The Sith were coming anyway. I gave you all a way to escape. Do you think anyone else would've?"

"Tell that to the dead buried beneath this Temple, kiddo."

"And that would've been avoided if you'd taken the High Marshal's offer."

Jacen laughed at that. "You really think we'd just sit back and let you tear the galaxy a new one? I took you for many things, but stupid wasn't one of 'em."

"And how has the New Republic repaid you for your loyalty, hmm? At the first opportunity, the Chancellor labled you terrorists. Never once did he consider that his 'good friend' Hux was behind everything, or that my mother was right. No, he just wanted the excuse."

He shook his head at the irony of it, "You are their greatest defenders, and they see you as the enemy, even when the Old Empire prepares to make its move. That is the rotten New Republic you defend, Master Shrike. A people of self-interested betrayers and apathetic fools."

"It ain't ever been about the ones who hold the crown, but the ones who live under it. Maybe if you'd paid attention to Lor San, you would've learned that," he emphasized his point by jutting a finger into his chest, "So tell me something, you really want trillions to suffer just because you've got a score to settle with the schmucks on Chandrila?"

"No, but I don't see any other alternative. It's only in the face of horror that people find their nobler selves. The Empire learned that with Alderaan, and the New Republic will learn the same with this war."

Jacen shook his head at him in a mixture of frustration and dismay, "I made a mistake letting you go. I thought you would see through all the crap and stay the course. That you wouldn't get twisted in the end. Guess I was wrong."

"If that's how you want to view it. Personally, you were right, and I hope by the end of this you see it that way."

"Who says there'll be an end? I called you here because I wanted to be wrong. That your dad and your girl were right about you. But I guess everyone's bound to be a sucker at least once."

"I suppose we're all used to disappointment. Now, give me the map."

"Take him."

It was then that Kylo Ren understood what he'd felt. He and Shrike weren't alone, but it was only in the moments of them moving that he finally felt them. They were a splinter in the mind's eye; an imperceptible trick that not even the most advanced cloaking fields could match. In the seconds before they attacked, Kylo recognized them as only one possible thing: Defelian Wraiths.

Steel prongs fired from either side of him faster than even he could react, his senses detecting the conducting cables attached to them. He tried to push them away, but they slammed into his arms painfully before he could even unclench his fists. The electrical discharge came a second later, and it took all his effort not to succumb to the sudden blackness as his body spasmed from the volts being pumped into him.

He fell to his knees, the electricity tearing into him seeming to increase in voltage. He swore he actually see his damn bones silhouetting before him, but he didn't know if that was just a trick of his pain-raddled mind. He realized then that he was screaming, and someone was talking.

"...would kill normal..." he made out, "but you're tough... take it, till you drop… Sorry. Ramp it up."

Now he could smell something burning. He couldn't make out what, but he could guess. Another minute, another second and he would either fall or die. Either, he would fail in his mission. No, he wouldn't. Afterall, what was pain to a Sith than life to a Jedi?

He focused inward, calling upon the teachings of his two masters in one. The pain soon gave him clarity, his anger strength, his rage power. Through this, he forced his hands together as he began to redirect the harmful electricity from his body to the space between his hands. He held the energy there, growing it more and more within the span of seconds.

Jacen saw it first, going for his sidearm as he called for the Wraiths to do something he couldn't make out. He focused on the moments that had wounded him, put him on this path; the death and betrayal leading to a final scream of hatred before his hands lashed out with a bright blue flash.

Everything was sent flying in smoke, and even the ground he stood upon was blackened with the heat. He rose despite the weakness plaguing him, his crossguard ignited as he saw his opponents in turn. The shadows were made flesh.

"There you are," he smirked behind the mask. Already they were trying to absorb the rooms light to flicker back into their transparent form, but there was no hiding from the Lord of Ren, now that he saw them as they truly were. They were like wolves forced upright, all claws and colorful fur with massive arms that ran almost the lengths of their bodies.

With these, they propelled themselves off the ground in lunges much like orangutans, their forms shimmering between visible and not as they attempted to close the distance. Kylo Ren launched a telekinetic push at the first, and as expected it bonded over the attack. As it did however, he stamped his foot into the stone floor with such force that he threw up several loose fragments. These were quickly turned into missiles, and he struck the Wraith with pinpoint accuracy that quickly immobilized him.

Sensing the second Wraith coming behind him, he hurled his unconcious comrade at him. Instead of bounding over him like he'd expected, the Wraith dove beneath the projectile and closed it with impossible speed. Its four sets of claws raked him across his armored body, the talons scraping against the duraplast with terrible shrieks.

It however was just noise, and Kylo Ren took the concussive blow in stride. When it had finished its attack vector and attempted to leap away, he retaliated. Like a thermohammer, his fist slammed into the beast's mongrel skull and pounded it straight into the floor, a resounding crack leaving it a fractured sprawl.

The Lord of Ren however had no time to gloat as he sensed Shrike fire his handgun. He moved to the side, dodging shots that screamed past his head and exploded behind him. Before he could retaliate however, a desk was kicked at him and knocked him to the floor. He felt the shards and splinters tear into his arms and legs as the desk shattered from the microexplosions, but he pressed past this as he hurled the debris at his opponent.

The remnants of the desk threw the old man into the wall, Kylo Ren closing the distance and slashing his raised pistol in two. Jacen however was not cowed, and with a speed that belied his age lashed out with a powerful left hook. Metal impacted metal as his cybernetic hand dented Kylo's helm, followed by a swift kick to the small of his back that slammed him against the wall.

The Lord of Ren heard the sound of a knife being drawn from its sheath. He swiftly turned and trapped Jacen's attacking arm as it came for his armpit. He pulled the arm around, blocking and trapping a left jab, and then used both arms as leverage to slam his helmet against the older man's skull.

The resounding crack stunned him, allowing Kylo to disarm the blade hand and then take him by the throat. Jacen's feet left the ground as he held him there, Kylo's fingers tightening around his trachea as he growled, "Now, where is the map?"

"No."

Kylo's grip tightened and the man's face started to swell up. However, his eyes remained firm, and Kylo slowly brought up his other hand with the intention to start probing his mind. Jacen shot him a bloody smile.

"Go ahead," he choked, "try. You won't break me in time."

Kylo Ren increased his pressure on his throat, his eyes beginning to bulge from their sockets. As he did this, he watched them for the unavoidable tell that occurs in the desperation of near death: the split-second look that would tell him what he needed. It took close to a minute for it happen, and by that point blood was pooling from his pores. Another few seconds, a few more pounds of pressure and the man would be dead. Kylo released the pressure just slightly, and it happened. If he hadn't been actively looking for it, he would've missed it. The eyes very briefly looked past him at the far wall before closing again.

"Thank you," Kylo said, slamming his head against the wall before crossing the room to where his eyes had looked. It took only a moment to sense the secret safe buried there, another to rip it away, and then a handful to detect the contingency device at the back meant to explode if it was forcefully opened.

Oddly, he smirked at the sight as it brought up an old memory. It had been a crime-boss' safe then, and Rey had taken a good few minutes to turn it off with a technometery application. It marveled him that she had the diligence and patience for it, but then again he was never one for waiting. He simply pierced the saber through the metal, opened a hole and yanked the device free. Satisfied, he ripped away the door and was greeted by the prize.

'So many dead over this little data-disk,' he thought grimly, but it was worth it in the end. This was the final step in his journey, and soon his destiny would be fulfilled. He however had other things he needed to attend to first.

He turned to where he'd come in, taking several seconds to concentrate his mental might into one powerful telekinetic blast. The walls caved in, and soon crashed upon the guards too engaged in battle with the commandos to escape. Through the smoke and dust, the others emerged to greet him.

"Do you have it?" Ones asked. He nodded, handing her the data-disk before brushing past them.

"Follow the main route here down to the sewer line. It will lead you out of the temple. From there, you can contact the ship for pickup."

"You're not coming?" Eighty asked.

"I have a Jedi to hunt."

A note from the Authors:

Hey everybody, this is JSailer and Squasher here. Same story as before, we are currently still writing Chapter 42. While we will work to get our backlog back by October 13th, we may delay the release of certain chapters if we can't. I will update if this is the case. For that reason, no preview will be posted this time. We'd also like to thank Terminator57, and Draconic for their reviews.