oooop, I was gonna wait a bit longer before uploading this but here ya'll go! I'm already most of the way through the next chapter, so hopefully that will be uploaded this weekend.
oh, and just as a heads up, this chapter gets a little graphic and violent. also, my apologies in advance to the ben stans out there. it's going to be a rough ride from here on out :(
The projector lit up, mapping his entire body as his hologram was broadcast to the fleet, throughout each section that housed a lifeform.
Taking a deep breath, he begun his address.
"Subjects of the First Order. As you are aware, we are approaching our exit from hyperspace, on what we would have you believe would be our last assault on the Rebellion." He paused, assessing the feeling of those within the room.
There was a small flicker of confusion amongst some, but otherwise no hostile threat yet.
"The First Order would have each of you believe that we are destroying the Rebellion for the greater cause, to propel our greatness amongst the stars." He had to hold himself back from the sarcasm he felt brewing on his tongue, instead spitting the word out as one would dispel a foul taste. Commanders aboard the bridge shifted in their seats, and he could feel the rage becoming rancid within Hux.
He already knew what he was attempting to do.
"The truth is, the First Order has manipulated each one of us into believing that fear, and hatred, and conquest will destroy the weakness of the universe, and to destroy the weakness within ourselves. The truth is that the only weakness to be found is in brainwashing vulnerable children, teenagers, into believing that slaughtering others is the epitome of strength."
Images of a burning boy before the Jedi Temple flashed across his mind. Screams seared through his memory. For a moment, he was again a terrified teenager, bearing witness to the cruellest manipulation and the most horrific fate.
Pulling himself back, he felt about the room once more, gauging. He was only moments away from the loyalist subjects arming themselves, and he could hear Hux's frantic orders for a troop to assist on the bridge.
He was going to need to fight until the remaining twelve minutes found them in the Outer Rim. He needed to make these final words count.
Ben removed his mask, allowing many of the First Order subjects to bear witness to his features for the very first time. Gasps sounded throughout the bridge, throughout those who knew his face, and knew it had been contorted with the remnants of a saber strike not several days past.
He felt Hux's fury, spewing now, as he stormed towards the General controlling the broadcast.
"The truth is that each of you listening to me at this very moment have a choice. We exit hyperspace in eleven minutes. You have eleven minutes to decide if want to join your loved ones; your partners who are waiting for your return, or your children alone in other galaxies. Your alternative is to die as the First Order raised you; as cattle bred for slaughter."
"Turn off the transmission!" Hux screeched at the General, who was glued, wide eyed to Ben as he spoke. Snapping out of the captivation of his words, she switched off the control for the projector, and the light flickered dead.
The entire bridge became utterly silent. Ben could count at least two dozen personnel who were reaching tentatively for their weapons, looking between Hux and Ben as though waiting for a command.
Confusion still amplified through the space. Many of the personnel wondered if it was a test. Was this a ploy to draw out mutineers and those not deeply loyal to the First Order? Was it a ruse to crush all resistance within their ranks?
It was Hux who spoke first, as he regained his composure. Ben could still feel the fury radiating from him; could anyone else feel the way the darkness seemed to envelop him?
"Oh, I knew you were far more pathetic than anyone anticipated. This was your great plan?" Hux spat, his laughter twisting through the air. "You believed that you could turn those that the First Order created?" Hux circled Ben, almost predatory in his approach.
"Stranger things have happened," Ben murmured as his fingers inched closer to his crossguard.
"You believe this is weakness? This is power and control untempered!" Hux glanced to the bridge entrance, anticipating. Ben knew it would not be long before the troop flooded the bridge.
Nine minutes…
"That is power for few, and control over many." Ben stated coolly, attempting to bide his time.
He needed to be able to access this control panel when they exited hyperspace.
Hux's laugh was hollow, ringing through the air. There was no humour in his tone, but it instead reverberated with malice.
"There is power for those intelligent enough to grasp it, and control remains for those who need reminding where their place is in this galaxy."
"It sounds as though you speak of the Rebellion, rather than those of the First Order." Ben's fingers twitched closer to his saber. He mapped and counted the hostile individuals in his immediate vicinity, waiting for the split second he was fired upon.
"They are all inconsequential." Hux hissed, venom dripping from his tongue.
He glanced once more down the corridor that led to the bridge and then returned his gaze to Ben, his smirk cutting through pale skin.
Ben could hear the stormtrooper footfalls drawing close now, only moments away.
He had run out of time to spare.
In a blur of movement, Ben grabbed the lightsaber and rolled to his right, taking cover behind several panels just as the air ignited with the red explosions of blasters.
"Apprehend him!" Hux screamed through the bridge. Ben steeled himself against the onslaught, and, illuminating his crackling crossguard, shot out from the opposite side of the control panels.
Blasts electrified the air, dangerously close to Ben as he blocked and parried each assault, sending them barraging back towards the troopers who begun flooding the bridge.
Six minutes…
He ducked and waved his arm forward, palm open as he sent a wave of the force through the air towards officers and stormtroopers alike, sending them barrelling towards the ground.
A blast sped past his head with dangerous proximity. Singed burning filled his nostrils, and he was unsure if it was his hair or the light panels that were buzzing with electricity behind him.
Ducking his head once more, he rolled forward to take cover behind a separate panel in his attempt to draw fire away from the controls he still required to be operational.
He cast his senses outward, counting the number of subjects actively firing upon him. Ben could feel several individuals who were cowering from the continued blasting, but there were at least two dozen troops still attempting to quash him from existence.
Four minutes…
Ben could feel them spreading out, encircling him. He could not allow himself to be trapped.
Inhaling sharply, he jumped from his cover and wrenched several Stormtroopers across the bridge, dangerously close to Hux, who had fallen into the shadows and away from the blaster crossfire.
Ben swung his crossguard and rebounding fire flew overhead, destroying lighting panels above and sending more troopers flying as the debris rained upon them.
He lifted his palm once more, throwing another ripple of the force towards several Officers who crept to his right, when he felt something hit him deep within his stomach.
Dread flooded his being, and the momentary lapse in concentration allowed a fallen Stormtrooper to grasp their blaster send a shot directly for Ben.
Fire ignited his right shoulder, and the shock sent him reeling backwards into a panel, dropping his saber to the ground.
Before he had a chance to right himself and lunge for the saber or use the force, a swarm of troopers descended upon him, wrenching his injured arm behind him and clasping force dampening cuffs around his wrists.
The feeling of dread immediately dissipated, but the pain reverberated through his shoulder, the smell of burning flesh stinging his nostrils.
"Grab him, now. Spare no force." Hux leered at Ben, and the troopers closest to him grabbed his shoulders. Ben's muffled grunts resounded through the bridge, much to the delight of Hux, as he led them away.
The pain in Ben's shoulder was no more than he had endured before at the hands of Snoke, yet the troopers made every effort to dig their metal gloves into the burnt flesh.
Ben knew where Hux would take him. It was where he took all prisoners. There would always be an extraction facility close to the bridge, nearby to command to pry information whenever control desired it.
Yet Hux did not require the equipment they had so often used.
After he ordered the troopers to drop Ben in the middle of the sterile room and leave, he immediately rammed his fist into the side of Ben's face, knocking him from his knees.
Ben's vision blurred from the assault, and his cheek smashed into the floor below him. His eyes refocused with just enough time to see Hux's foot flying towards him.
A crack sounded as Ben's head flew backwards, whiplashed. Pain shot through his nose immediately, and he knew Hux had broken it. He could feel blood rush from his lips and nose, flowing down the side of his face.
"You need to be alive, so I am told, though I was given no instruction to keep you intact." Another blow connected with Ben's torso, and pain exploded in his chest. He could not hear the crack over the blood pounding in ears, but he was sure Hux had broken a rib.
Hux bent down to Ben's face, looking over the damage he had caused, smirking at the blood that had begun to pool on the floor below.
"Besides," he whispered nonchalantly, taking a handful of Ben's hair and forcing him to look at Hux through swollen flesh and fresh blood. "I cannot understate my excitement in bearing witness to you watching your scavenger girl die before you."
Ben's eyes flashed open, and he jerked himself towards Hux in a futile attempt to break through the restraints that held him. Hux rose and took a step backwards, delivering another blow into Ben's stomach.
Pain shot through his body, blinding what little vision remained. Standing upright, Hux straightened his uniform as violent glee vibrated throughout his body.
"Oh, yes. I know about your little girlfriend. I daresay I know more about her than even you. Don't you worry though, Ben Solo," Hux spat, dark eyes gleaming. "The Knights of Ren should already be making their descent onto the Moon of Endor to collect her. I believe there was also no strict requirement for her to be in one piece." Hux's sinister grin did not leave his face, even as he exited the room.
Ben's body burnt with pain of the physical trauma, but nothing burned more than realising where the sudden dread that had filled his body originated from.
The Knights of Ren were on their way to Rey, and she had felt their approach.