Memories catapulted through their bond with so much speed Ben could barely keep up.
Rey frantically called on her past, clawing through every fine detail to find out where she had heard that voice before.
The voices in Ben's ear were drowned amongst the voices of Rey's past.
Voices that seemed so very few and far between.
Moments seemed to stretch and blur at once, and a second or a lifetime may have passed before a sickening feeling bubbled from deep within Rey's stomach.
Her boots shifted across the damp undergrowth below them, inching backwards.
Ben, she whispered through their connection, a murmur so faint it was barely audible through the cacophony in his mind.
Something is very wrong. We need to go, Rey pleaded. She was desperate now. Ben knew she had found the memory within her past, but she clamped everything down, shutting off.
For the first time since he had known her, she was paralysed with fear.
An explosion sounded close by, as another stormtrooper transport found the earth, shaking the soil beneath their feet.
"Come closer, my child… Let me see your face…" The voice called out, and a snicker followed it, cutting through the air between them.
Ben recognised the snicker immediately. The arrogance that spewed from Hux's mind was unparalleled, and he could feel him close by, anticipating.
Rey's feet had glued to the earth now, her body rigid.
Rey, Ben murmured, wrapping his large fingers more firmly around her small hand, reassuring. We need to move. Finn and Poe's lives may depend on this.
Her body shuddered. Her eyes refocused, brows drawing into a tight frown.
Rey steeled her resolve, overriding the sickening feeling inside her with a determination to save her friends.
Warm fingers squeezed his cool ones in response, before she let them fall and used the hand now free to grasp the saber hidden at the low of her back. Ben moved to do the same, unclasping the metal clip from his belt, exposing the kyber he had hidden for so long. Rolling the lightsaber between his fingers, he grounded himself in the balance he felt within.
They stepped forward, moving through the trees as they became few and far between, clearing before them as a rocky escarpment rose ahead.
Stone jutted out of the expanse haphazardly, completely breaking away to their right, as though the earth had shifted a millennia ago, cracking in two. A cliff face was left in its wake, a drop so steep Ben could not even fathom the bottom of it.
The tree line continued to their right and extended far beyond them, but his eyes quickly fell to a stormtrooper vessel at the edge of the clearing, and the figures that stood before them.
Hux, for all his arrogance and show of bravado, was the furthest from them, his back leaning against the side of the cargo transport. Ben could see the way his face morphed into an awful colour of purple and blue, his eye nearly shut against the swollen flesh.
The darkness rose within Ben's chest, wishing it were he who had left those marks, a small retribution for the death Hux had almost imposed upon him, and for the words he had spoken about Rey.
Ben's gaze flickered to the men he had become to know so well, their intentions now hard to trace. He gleaned the minds of the weaker links, but to no avail. They were blank. The darkness that poured from their being was so obvious it was intoxicating.
Yet the source of that darkness was still unreadable.
Was it anger? Revenge? Power? He pushed harder, but nothing gave way. He could have sworn Cardo's lips twinged upwards, a faint glimpse of humour at his attempts.
It was then that the owner of the voice emerged, like a ghost from only the memories of those before him, as he crept from the stormtrooper vessel.
Ben's breath hitched in his throat, but confusion still radiated from Rey.
She was a scavenger on the far reaches of Jakku, where she had only heard myths of his parents and his uncle.
Of course Rey could not put a name or a face to this shell of a creature before them.
Ben shrouded his thoughts in what he knew each of those within the clearing would be unfamiliar with and unable to break through. He called to the light, cocooning himself in the love that radiated from his mother and his father, the love that he still felt now. He needed to make certain that their thoughts were just as impenetrable as those of the Knights of Ren.
Understanding his motives, Rey honed onto the love and the friendship of Finn and Poe, wrapping herself within the light, masking the darkness of fear that stirred underneath.
Palpatine… He murmured through his mind, confident that they could not grasp the exchange of thoughts between them.
Only a small flicker of knowledge passed from Rey's mind in response, and Ben elaborated.
Darth Sidious… My grandfathers' mentor, and his final foe… Ben whispered, staring in a mesmerised horror as Palpantine crept across the fragmented rock face in a way that seemed barely human. Yellow eyes flashed behind the hood that was hung low over his face, and Ben was certain what he saw there was no longer human.
This distorted carcass was nothing more than exactly that in the physical form, yet the venom that they felt quaking through the force reverberated back to him.
Ben's eyes flashed back to the Knights as they made way for Palpatine, falling behind him as he made his way forward, his subservient soldiers holding closer than his shadow.
The confusion in Rey's being shifted as she recalled vague conversations and whispered words regarding the fallen Sith Empire, toeing a line between finding the information within her memories but smothering a past she could not face.
How? How can it be? Rey murmured, eyes darting between the Knights, but always falling on Palpatine.
I don't know. We cannot take them head on. We are too severely outnumbered. Ben answered, his own gaze running through each strategy, every movement he was sure the Knights would make.
Kuruk would linger at the edges, waiting for a moment of hesitance or a lapse in concentration to make his mark.
Vicrul lacked in his intelligence but made up for his downfalls threefold in brute strength, towering over even Ben in height and stature.
Ushar and Trudgen rarely strayed from each other's sides, and in battle it was much the same; they would corner their opponent and use the dual force of their abilities to overwhelm them.
Ap'lek was quick, faster than the others. His movements were barely visible, so fluid and precise that he could strike a blow without a single moment's notice.
Then there was Cardo. He would combat Ben head on. He was arrogant, vicious, and cruel; there was never a fight they engaged where he relented willingly.
Ben did not know how to factor in the Emperor of the Sith Order. Did he chalk him down to the pained footfalls he took through the ridge before them, or did he expect the power and cunning of a man who had almost singlehandedly seen to the downfall of the Jedi, of the Republic?
He brimmed with fear at the sight of him, and that was answer enough. Even though Palpatine was no more than rotting flesh, the power that emanated from him was jolting.
Ben tightened his grasp on the saber within his palm, preparing himself.
They needed to survive this, but they needed to help the Rebellion survive too.
Palpatine stopped, yards away from Rey and Ben, who had barely stepped into the clearing, still wary. It was then that the Sith Lord reached his skeletal fingers to the hood that still held his face, and brushed it heavily over his head.
A wave of nausea rushed through Ben, coiling from the pits of his own stomach and from where Rey stood beside him.
The skin of Palpatine's face had fallen, as though the sickly white flesh had partially melted from bones that stuck out at odd angles, dripping down his cheeks.
Sockets that held his yellowed orbs were hollowed, sunken into the back of his skull.
Purples and blues tinted his skin, as though it were wasting away right before their eyes.
The creature before them was horrifying, more than his imagination could have conjured.
"My child, my dear child," he continued again, his entire focus falling on Rey.
"Who are you?" Rey whispered angrily, her jaw hardening and her teeth clenching within her mouth.
He laughed once more, the hollowness of the sound ringing through the air, falling rancid on their ears.
"I expected there to be some memory that lingered, but you were so little the last I saw you." Rey's fingers gripped tightly around the saber that she held to her side, knuckles white with rage.
"Though, perhaps, there is some familiarity hidden," he continued as he observed the way the darkness stirred within her.
"WHO ARE YOU?" She roared this time, taking a step forwards, fighting a dark desperation within her with the lividity that begun to course through each nerve at her fingertips.
He chuckled again, this time lowly, as though to himself.
"Why, child. Do you not recognise your own kin? I am your great-grandfather."
hellloooooo pals! okay so did anyone else think that Palps was super old right? when I first came back to this story after TROS I told myself I would look into his age etc and, tbh... It was a bit confusing (but I am still learning with the lore, years, timelines etc.) Regardless, I still think his age could warrant being a great grandparent, so there we have it. I also really loved this reveal in the movie, I just think it could have been executed with a little more... Omph... So, let's see how I go! More will be explained soon! I have the next chapter already lined up and ready to go, and the chapter after is half way finished. So, do ya'll want another chapter sooner? When should I upload? Thank you so much again for all your feedback! BrokenMentality, Pam48 and stepankahanusova86, ya'll are amazing and I appreciate you! Thanks for the new favs + follows, and welcome! I am so close to the finish line! I'm excited! Sad! Nervous! Happy! Anyway, I hope you are all having a fantastic week so far, and if you're not, then I am glad you're still here and getting through life. Stay safe! xxxx