A/N - Welcome back to the story!
"Rose, collect the rest of the soldiers and take them to the palace gates."
Poe did a double take at Ben's command.
"Ben, we should stay with the plan."
"I am staying with the plan."
"But…" Rose began to protest, and Ben turned back to her.
"We have to get the outside forces in here. Leia and Luke have been trying to get through the gates, but they need help from the inside. I'll have an easier time surprising Snoke if we go in with a small group."
Rose hesitated, before nodding. Every fighter they had would be needed if they were to succeed in getting those gates open and storming the palace. It meant that he wouldn't be able to take any troops with him to find Rey, and it would weaken his chances of getting them both out of here alive, but if they were going to win it was what had to be done.
It was not the choice he wanted to make, it was not the choice he would have made a week ago, but it was the choice he knew he had to make now.
"Go, Rose. Lead the troops to the gates," Ben commanded. "Finn and Poe…"
"...are staying with you." Poe finished for him.
"Fine," Ben relented, knowing he wasn't going to talk either of the other men out of it. "We have to go."
With a wave of his hand, the cell doors flew open, eliciting a gasp from the occupants.
"You're freeing us?" Paige whispered incredulously, and Ben nodded.
"Join your sister. Bring down the gates."
Ben climbed the steps to the servant's hall and paused as he opened himself up to the bond between him and Rey. Though it wasn't as strong as it had been, he could feel it calling to him.
He maneuvered through the hallways, steadily climbing as rising horror began to pulse through him. Rey didn't know where she was heading, but he did. He was running, not paying any attention to Finn and Poe at his heels.
"Careful, Ben," Poe grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop as he panted for breath. "You're going to let the whole planet know we're here."
"It's too late for that," Ben informed him.
"What does that mean?" Finn demanded. "Does Snoke know we're here?"
"No, but we can't remain hidden for much longer."
"Why is that?"
"Because Rey is heading straight for Snoke's throne room."
Finn tripped and nearly fell as he gaped at Ben.
"And that's where we're going?"
"It is."
He broke into a brisk jog as they continued down the hallway, his body thrumming with anticipation and bloodlust. She was so close; he could feel her there, just beyond his grasp. Fire licked over his skin with his driving urge to see her and touch her once more.
Ben burst into the palace foyer, startling the ten stormtroopers stationed outside the throne room.
The guards leapt into action as they jumped forward to try and block him from the room. Ben grabbed hold of one, shoving him back against the door as he drove his lightsaber into his abdomen. The man grunted as he fell to the ground. Another guard began to shout loudly as he called for help, but Ben silenced him with a slash to the throat before he could raise too much of an alarm. He heard the sound of a blaster firing, and saw Poe taking aim at the other troopers crowding him.
Finn was suddenly beside him, wielding Ben's old lightsaber, and together they fought the remaining troops back to back. The sound of blaster fire and lightsaber clashes filled the hall, and the shouts died away as Ben took down the last standing guard.
Ben grabbed the handles and flung the massive doors open.
Supreme Leader Snoke was at the end of the vast room, lounging in his throne, seemingly unaffected by the fact that Ben was here to kill him. He didn't appear at all concerned about the fact that his troopers had just been dispatched with relative ease as he grinned at Ben.
He soon saw the reason for his former master's nonchalant demeanor as the Praetorian Guards slipped from the alcoves within the room, moving noiselessly forward to protect the man they served.
"I was wondering when you'd join us," Snoke sneered. "The girl will be joining us shortly. I sent Hux to retrieve her."
Ben's gaze moved over the guards gathered within the room. There were at least thirty of them, and he wouldn't be surprised to learn that even more were hidden throughout the room. He felt no concern over the fact that they were outnumbered, he had no fear anymore; he only had the burning urge to have Rey back and the man before him dead. He'd kill all of these men if that was what it took.
"Who is this with you?" Snoke inquired. He rose leisurely to his feet and straightened the rich, voluminous golden robe he wore. Ben felt Poe and Finn bristle as Snoke scanned them from head to toe, a smile flitting across his grotesque mouth. "You've sunk even lower than I thought, Kylo Ren, if this is the pitiful company you've started to keep. You thought you could defeat me with a former stormtrooper and a Resistance pilot?"
Ben refused to rise to Snoke's baiting, and Poe and Finn remained silent beside him.
"What exactly was your plan here?" Snoke goaded. Ben was hardly paying attention. Rey was close, he could feel it, she was almost within his grasp. He just wasn't certain which passageway door she would be coming through as there were at least three that he knew of within the throne room. "Did you honestly believe that you could come in here and overthrow me? Kill me? Your master?"
He didn't know what the plan was; he simply knew that he had to get her out of here, alive, if at all possible. Ben strained to feel something, anything, outside of this room.
Then he felt it, a muted scraping of feet, a muffled heartbeat coming from within the walls. Unfortunately, she was closer to Snoke than him.
Even worse was the fact that behind the soft sounds of Rey, he heard the relentless pursuit of someone else.
A/N - Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)