Chapter 46 - Bitter Reunion
Hyperspace
Providence-Class Cruiser Scarlet Night
Pain. That was the first thing that came to Rey's mind as she slowly stirred. A pain like she'd been struck in the head with an axe, soon accompanied by the slow and steady thumbing of a blood pumping in the deep darkness. Ironically, she took the anguish as a comfort. You don't feel pain if you're dead.
She tried to open her eyes, but the sweet darkness was replaced by a piercing light. She immediately shut them, suddenly conscious of how cold and even numb she felt. It was as though she was in water, unable to move or to breathe or…
She heard something. A voice. She couldn't make it out yet, but it was there. It was speaking to her, and she focused on it like a lifeline. She pulled on it, mentally yanking herself out of her unconscious state back into the living. She tried to say something, but she couldn't hear her own words. She couldn't even remember what she had said.
"Where… am I?" she tried again, finally hearing how hoarse she sounded. What had happened?
"Safe," the voice said again, heavy and reverberated. She had heard that voice before, but where? Then she remembered.
"No!" She gasped, suddenly coming fully awake. The piercing light was there again, making her eyes burn. Panic took her when she realized she couldn't move her arms or her legs. Something was holding her down! What was-
"Easy…" the voice soothed, a cold leather hand moving across her brow, "easy. You're okay. Just breathe, nice and easy. Breathe."
Despite herself, she listened to the voice. Calm took her, and eventually the pain became a manageable dullness that slinked into the back of her mind. Reluctantly she began to open her eyes again. Everything was blurry at first, the light still there. Then something moved between them, a shadow coming over her. She focused, and her heart sank when the image became clear.
"You," she whispered as an all too familiar mask came into view.
"Yes, me," Kylo Ren answered, seated across the room in a chair and looking at her expectantly. For a long unbearable moment, she waited to see what he would do, but he did nothing. He just sat there, staring at her.
She let her eyes roam the room for a moment, realizing that she was strapped down to a table and that those straps were leather. She didn't smile though she wanted to, and she was glad she didn't. She tried to tap into the Force, to will it to release the strapping but it didn't respond. All Jedi could hear the call of the Force, but it was though she was in a vacuum with no sound save for her own voice. How?
She heard an all too familiar hiss, and she saw why sticking its tongue out at her. She grimaced at her captor, "You afraid to be in here with me without an Yssalmiri?"
"Only an idiot isn't afraid, Jedi," he answered casually, "and I'm not an idiot. If I didn't have him in the corner, you'd be gone in seconds. And I really can't have that."
"What do you want with me, then?" she asked, swallowing to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Nothing."
She looked at him strangely, "Nothing? Then why am I here? Why am I strapped to this table?"
"Because you're my prisoner?"
"That's not funny. Why did you come after me in the forest if you want nothing from me?"
"Do you want the truth?" he sighed, rising to his feet, "Because I want you out of the way, but I don't want you dead. Simple enough?"
"Not really," she replied, "the simplest solution to me being out of the way is to just kill me. But you didn't, which means you want something from me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be alive."
"Wow," he said, crossing his arms, "I forgot how difficult you could be. Can't be gracious of the fact you're alive. Oh no, you have to know why. Why, why and why."
Rey had fought Sith before, but this man was nothing like them. His behavior completely caught her off guard, and induced a growing feeling of unease. She played along, putting on a casual face, "Well, is why such an unreasonable question?"
"It's an annoying one."
She smirked, "It annoys you? Maybe I'll keep asking you that, then."
"Or I could gag you and leave you alone with forked tongue over there."
"No you won't," she said, looking at him again strangely, "you could've, but you haven't. And I haven't asked the most important question yet."
"And that is?"
"Why are you here?"
"Good question, for once," he replied, shaking his head for a moment, "I guess because I wanted to talk to you. Because I've wanted to talk to you the moment you got involved in things. And I wanted to talk to you alone, away from anybody who wouldn't… understand."
She nodded slowly the feeling of unease gripping like a pit in her stomach. But it wasn't fear for her safety. It was fear of what she thought might be true. She swallowed, and asked the one question she'd been dreading to ask, "Who are you?"
"You know who am I, Rey."
She nodded again, closing her eyes to hold back her tears. "Show me," she whispered.
"As you wish," he replied, his hands taking hold of the helm and removing it with a hydraulic hiss. Rey's heart sank when she saw the face she'd been dreading.
"Cale."
He stiffened slightly at the name, but answered with a slight smile, "Yes."
Aside from the slight scars on his chin and cheek, he was exactly as she remembered. His mother's dark brooding eyes; his father's winning smile. The kind, heroic faith that once oozed a scoundrel's confidence. Even the crumpled, devil-may-care hair that would've looked odd had he combed it. Exactly as she remembered… and not.
There was always a kind of darkness behind those eyes of his. But here, she could read all the pain and rage plainly. Yet there was something else there, something she suspected the moment she found herself on this table. Loneliness.
"Reading my face, are you?" he asked suddenly with that casual smile of his. Despite the moment, she shrugged.
"I can't really do anything else. I'm kind of stuck here at the moment."
"Funny," he chuckled, but his eyes were serious, "I'm not going to untie you, if that's what you're going to ask next."
"I didn't think so. You're not that stupid... yet."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Cale," she leaned forward, her eyes almost pleading, "I know what you did, and I know why you're here. You don't have to pretend anymore. Not with me."
"Oh, I see. You got to talking Shrike, hmm?" he shook his head with a scoff, "Let me guess, he told you that I went under? That I'm secretly working for the good guys, right?"
She didn't reply, but her eyes did. He sighed, "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Rey, but I'm not working for anyone but myself. Not for Shrike, not for the Jedi. Not even for the Sith."
"Really?" she asked, gesturing around, "Then why all of this? Why help the enemy get the Forge?"
"It's all part of the plan. Everything that I've done has been to get me in the same room with the High Marshal. To get a personal audience. But he hasn't made it easy for me. Not really a big surprise, it took a lot to convince him that I wasn't here to kill him."
"Yes," she drawled, "when you handed Takodana over to the enemy? When you betrayed everyone you ever cared about? Your own family?"
"Now I'm disappointed you. I thought you knew what I did and why I'm here."
"I'd hoped it was more than that," she sighed, closing her eyes as she did, "but this? All of this? You've gone too far."
"Recent events suggest otherwise."
"Oh, would you listen to yourself!?" she shouted at him, "How can you stand there and justify everything you've done? You killed our teacher. You tortured Poe. You've helped the enemy find a weapon that they will use to terrorize the galaxy… and for what? To avenge your master? What would she think of what you've done?"
"This isn't about her, Rey. Not anymore."
She stared at him utterly speechless. "What does that even mean?"
He sighed, all the color and life draining from his face. He rose from his chair, pacing the room as he began somberly. "When I volunteered to infiltrate the Knights of Ren, I did it with the clearest of intentions. I was going to expose them. I was going to find the one who ordered my master's death, and I was gonna kill him. I would do whatever it took, but I was determined to see things through."
Then he stopped, looking at her strangely. "Did Shrike tell you about Lor San's theory?"
She nodded, and he asked, "Did he also tell his own theory? That his boogiemen, that these Sith were behind every calamity, every single threat that has ever come after the Jedi?"
"Yes," she answered, "and considering what I've seen the First Order do to accomplish its goals, it wouldn't surprise me."
"Then it must surprise you that he was wrong."
It did, and she scrutinized him for a moment. "And let me guess, they told you this?"
"No. My station as a Lord of Ren has long since given me access to that sort of information, and do you want to know what I found? They have never been involved. Not with Lumiya, not with the Imperial Remnants, not with the Chimera or Marka Ragnos. Not even with Antiga. There is no invisible hand puppeteering events, no Palpatine to blame."
"I can buy some of those, but I refuse to believe that the First Order had nothing to do with Antiga. They gained quite a bit of a territory with that conflict."
"You misunderstand. The First Order was, but not the Knights of Ren. Not the Sith."
Rey raised an eyebrow, "That's not… what?"
Cale shrugged, "I was surprised too. But I would have thought FN-2187 would've explained the difference between the two. After all, Shrike has a way of making people talk."
"Finn did explain it."
"Oh, is that his name now? Poe's doing, I would guess. He always did have a funny sense of humor. A fish out of water."
"Hilarious. But there's one thing wrong with that assessment. You all answer to the same person. By extension, the Sith were involved on Antiga."
"And you mistake Damask for Palpatine."
"No, he's just the man who created him!"
"So we think, and that does not make them the same person. Let me explain something very simple to you. I am a Lord of Ren. I command a fleet of warships and a fiefdom of Sith. I answer to no one except the Master, and yet he does not make a habit of commanding me. For this reason, as I expected Finn to tell you, the interests of the First Order and the Knights do not always align. Why else was Finn's former commander sent to accompany me when I was sufficient?"
"What's your point, Cale?"
"Let me show you."
He produced a remote and pointed it to the far wall. It split apart, revealing a holo-receiver that switched onto the main HoloNet channel. Images and scrollers began popping up, revealing a blockade of New Republic warships orbiting a world. The headline read "Mandalore under Siege!"
"...the 7th Fleet continues to ground all traffic coming in and out of the system," the spokesperson said, "minutes ago, Manda'lor Wren issued the following statement."
The image shifted to a recording of an aged Sabine Wren, Mandalore the Arbitrator. Her face was tired, her hair picking up more white hairs since the last time Rey had seen her. But her eyes blazed with the same ageless fury that added spirit to her voice as issued out her proclamation:
"Sons and daughters of the New Republic, I feel inclined to remind you of a simple truth. Mandalore stood as one of the founding worlds of your government. We shed the same blood, shared the same losses in the war against the Empire. All to secure freedom and justice for all in the galaxy.
"Yet there are those who would deny this simple truth. Those who would call the heroes who won you your freedom traitors. Who would persecute the innocent, the patriotic and the dutiful; all without a shred of proof or lawful proceeding. Those who would abuse our Federal System to preserve their own power, all the while ignoring the threat that lies at our door.
"For this, I say that this will not stand. Hera Syndulla is no traitor. She was the Commander of the first fleet of the Rebel Alliance. She recognizes the danger the First Order and Chancellor Borealis' administration poses to your freedom. For this, Borealis calls her traitor! Her and all those who dare speak up for the massacre of the Jedi and the countless others taken from us by Imperial aggression.
"Sons and daughters of the New Republic, this much I vow. If Borealis wishes war against those who stand to preserve the Constitution and Sovereign Rights of Sector and Citizen; if he wishes to cast his allegiance to those who would deny us our very right to exist, then I say onto him: you will find us ready and waiting."
The image cut out, the Spokesperson continuing:
"The Executive Representative had this to say on the Manda'lor's latest outburst."
"Manda'lor Wren has overstepped her bounds as Sector Governor, and is playing martyr to deflect the fact she is harboring a fugitive from New Republic Justice. The Constitution she claims to defend makes plain that an issued warrant of the High Court supersedes her authority. A warrant that charges Hera Syndulla with Sedition and Treason for attempting to use her fleet to provoke a war with the First Order.
"If she refuses to abide by the law she swore to defend and allow for Syndulla's innocence to be determined in Court, then the Executive Office will take the appropriate response. That response will be determined by the Manda'lor herself. In other words, the ball is in her court now."
The HoloNet Spokesperson came back on, reporting: "Additional fleets have been rerouted to the Mandalorian Sector. It is unknown if Martial Law will be declared. An emergency session has been called for Special Executives to vote on the issue. Early estimates report however that they may vote in the Chancellor's favor-"
Kylo switched the Holo-Receiver off, "Well, Sabine hasn't lost an ounce of her fire."
"She's a Mandalorian She's always been feisty," Rey sighed, "but why did you show me this?"
"To show you the true face of the republic you serve. A republic that would sooner turn on its own heroes and defenders than grow a spine and tell their enemies 'No.' All in the name of preserving peace. And those who would dare speak out against them are likewise labelled traitors, warmongers,and malcontents. That is the New Republic you protect."
"It's never been about serving the government!" Rey snapped, "It's always been about protecting the people-"
"The people, the people, the people! I have heard that argument a hundred times, and you know what I have to say that? TO HELL WITH THEM!" Cale snarled, before he took a shuddering breath to calm himself, "When has the people ever done anything to earn our loyalty, really? After all, a government is just a body of beings voted in by the people. They serve their interests."
"I think Sabine would disagree with you-"
"And they call her traitor, Rey! One of the few people who works to preserve the freedom and security of those who granted her the right to carry the Darksaber, and they call her a Traitor!
"Then the problem is the corruption in the federal government, not with the people-"
"Which begins and ends with the people! A people who did nothing when the Outer Rim was taken by pirates and criminals! A people who did nothing when countless worlds languished under the Remnant! Who did nothing when Antiga descended into anarchy! And who did nothing when the Jedi were destroyed!"
He sighed exhaustively, shaking his head at it all, "The point I wanted to show is that this was not the Sith's doing. This wasn't even the First Order's doing. This is the doing of a populace that has lost the will to fight for its freedom. A populace that would gladly sell itself over for the promise of security and being told that everything is alright."
He turned to her, his eyes blazing with a cold conviction, "You asked me why I am doing all of this. Why I would aid our enemy in their objectives. Because it's time the New Republic got its wake-up call."
"And your solution is to start a war and get billions of people killed?" Rey asked in horror and disbelief, "Because that is exactly what you are doing! You are playing with fire, and it will burn down this entire galaxy! The innocent, the guilty? They will all die because of this!"
"So you agree with me? That they've lost the will to fight and exist?"
"No, they will resist you. They will fight you."
"Good, because I want them to. I want them to prove me wrong."
"And this is the best way to do that!?"
He shrugged, "Not much else I can do with the idiot and his army of bureaucrats in charge. Something this entrenched has to be cut out at the roots, and that can only be done is with swift and decisive action. It will take war, Rey. Just as it did with the Rebel Alliance."
"Don't you dare compare yourself to them."
"And why shouldn't I? This is no different than the Old Republic. Yes, Palpatine may have engineered the Clone Wars, but it was the people of the Galaxy that voted him in. Who allowed him to erode their freedoms until the Republic was the Empire in all but name. Who stood by and clapped when he declared the dictatorship and destroyed the Jedi."
"It's not that simple-"
"Yes it is. The Jedi were the ones who saved the Republic from the Neo-Crusaders, the Sith, and Zakuul. The ones who brought it out of the Galactic Dark Age. The ones who ushered in a golden age that lasted a mellennia… and how did they repay them? By turning on them. Cheering at their deaths."
"And it was the same people who rose up against Palpatine!" Rey shouted at him, "The same ones who stood by our side when the Chimera came to power! The same ones who stood by our side against the Sith, the Neo-Crusaders and the Zakuul! The same ones who will stand by us again to fight you!"
"But that is not enough, Rey. Oh yes, they can stand by us because they need you, but what happens when they don't? You see, deep down, they hate you just as much as they hate me. Because we can do things they can't. Because we were chosen to wield power, and they weren't. And they resent us for that."
"You're starting to sound like C'Boath."
"C'Boath was a lunatic, who wanted to dominate the galaxy, Rey. Me? I'm just a realist. I have no desire to rule or dominate anybody. But what I want is to expose their hypocrisy for what it is. I want them to realize that they need you. That they need the Jedi. They need people who can do extraordinary things they can't. I want them to face the ugly truth that everything that happens is because of them and their joke of a morality."
"At what cost, Cale?" Rey pleaded.
"Whatever it takes, Rey. There can be no more half measures. Luke and Lor San tried it their way. Tried to pull people out of their self-created ignorance. But what they don't understand is that people do not change unless they're forced to. Until they are faced with such horror that they find their nobler selves."
"And how many people have to die for that? How many innocents who just want to live their lives in peace have to die for your idea of a better world?"
Cale stood there for a moment, before he answered softly. "I don't see any other way."
"That's because you're not looking hard enough! You're taking the quick and easy path! No different than Palpatine or Vitiate! Oh sure, they had their perfect world and they tried to force it on everyone whether they wanted it or not. Because in their minds, there was no better alternative than their perfect little world."
"Don't you dare accuse me of being some power-hungry lunatic with a god complex! I would love nothing more than to leave them alone, but they never get the message! We bleed the same as them, and we die just like them! Why can't we be allowed to live like them?"
"Because of the people you serve, Cale. How can they not see us as a threat when you bring a galactic war on their heads? Besides, by your recollection, every example you provided seems to lead to the same repeating cycle. How will this be any different?"
"Easy. Before, the Jedi were there at the door, ready to fight off the big bad Sith before they could even get in the house. But not this time. The Jedi won't be there to stop them from entering. The people themselves will now have to fight to save themselves. They will finally be forced to confront the Sith."
"Cale, they've always done that-"
"With the Jedi at their front. Never once have they ever had to contend with the Sith without the Jedi there. Not even during the Rebellion. They had people like Kanan, Ezra, Kota… Ahsoka," he breathed slightly and continued, "but this time, they will fight alone. And they will beg, beg! For Jedi to come and save them."
Rey shook her head at him. "Cale, is this because of her? Are you just angry at the galaxy for Ahsoka? How would she feel about this?"
"It doesn't matter what she feels, because this is bigger than just her death. This is about ending a cycle that gets good people like her killed. You know that I'm right. You may disagree with my methods, but you know that what I'm saying is true."
"Yes but this is the wrong way to do it. There has to be a better way than this," she shuddered then, struggling to hold back her tears, "I know that you're angry. Force-knows, I know. But this is taking it too far."
"Force is the one thing that causes change, more than any other factor. And force, Rey, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authority derives."
He sighed wearily, slumping back into his chair. His face grew gaunt, almost ghoulish in appearance. When he looked up at her again, his eyes were red with withheld tears. "Rey, I don't want this to be true. I don't want to kill anyone. But unless something is done, history will just repeat. And one day, there won't be any Jedi left. There won't be any good people like you or my master left. I wish there was a better way. But I don't see any other way."
She couldn't hold back her own tears anymore. She let them fall, her voice quivering with sorrow. "There is always a better way. You just have to find it. You just have to look hard enough."
"I can't do it… but maybe together we could," his eyes lit up as he rose and walked over to her. Cold leather brushed against her cheek and over her ear as he stared into her eyes, pleadingly. "Rey, we have done so much good together over the years. We can do it again. Join me, and we can put the galaxy right. Make things the way we want them to be."
For precious seconds, she was tempted. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps together they could find a way to save the galaxy. Was it any different than what they had with Marka Ragnos? With the Outer Rim and Antiga? She shook with the indecision. She'd made it her mission to save him. Was this the way to do it?
"No," she whispered, "I'm sorry, Cale, but I can't. I can't stand by and let you do this."
"Why?" he begged, his voice cracking, "You've seen the same things I have. We've fought the same evil. Why can't you understand the truth of things?"
"Because I am a Jedi, like my father before me. Because I look at you, and I see someone who deep down knows what he's doing is wrong. Why else did you bring me here, debate with me? Because you want to be convinced that you are wrong. But I don't think I can convince you. I've never been good at that sort of thing."
"It's not about words, Rey. It's about conviction. And you were the best of us. Not me, not even Ben. You."
"You sell me too high."
"Not high enough, and that's the problem. You won't waver. I wish the galaxy had a million people like you. Then we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with."
"I still believe in people. I think they're better than you give them credit for, and they will prove you wrong. But there is another way," she craned her neck, bringing his face so close to hers that their noses touched, "let me go, and come with me. It's not too late to stop this, to set things right. I know you want to. Why else did you bring me here?"
Cale looked to the side as he closed his eyes, "There is no going back for me. I'm too deep into this, I've done far too much. It's too late for me."
"No, it's not. It's never too late. Vader did far worse and he still had a chance."
Cale shook his head in sorrow, tears streaming down his face before he opened them again, "But I'm not Vader."
He donned his helmet with a hiss, exiting the cell, "Thanks for the talk. You'll be kept here until after I deal with Damask. Then you'll be released."
"You shouldn't have brought me here," she said suddenly, causing him to turn back to her, "you should've just left me on Takodana."
"And why's that?"
"Because after this, I'm not going to stop coming after you, Cale," she replied, "and if you want to stop me, you're going to have to kill me. Right here, right now. Because I will never stop until I take you down."
"You're welcome to try, Rey. Because I will not let you or anyone else stop me."
"Why don't you tell that to Tionne? To Lor San's daughter while you're at it?"
Kylo glared at her for that. He clenched his fist, almost made the effort to walk right back into the room but he stopped himself. Wordlessly, he spun on his heel and marched for the door. He gave one last look at her, and let the door close behind him.
A minute later, Kylo Ren was in the turbolift, Rey's parting words opened a deep wound in his mind. He couldn't get it out of his head and when the words became too much for him, he slammed his fist into the wall with a roar of rage.
The metal crunched on impact, his fist lodged there for a moment as he snarled, "Damn that woman."
He removed his hand, feeling the sting of the cuts on his knuckles. Kylo took a deep breath to calm himself, shuddering as he did. He shook his head, "No… she doesn't deserve that. But the mission isn't over."
The elevator pinged and the doors opened.
"Soon," he whispered, "Soon…"
Author's Notes
Hey everybody, this is JSailer and Squasher. Just as a reminder, we have switched our uploading days to every other Monday. So, the next chapter will be uploaded January 6th. I'd like to thank Terminator-57 for his honest and consistent reviews and DarthVerus for understanding why we had to delay uploading a few weeks ago. We hope you enjoy this chapter, we certainly did writing it.