Prologue:

It has been two years since the First Order attacked the Resistance stronghold on Crait. Kylo Ren rules as Supreme Leader. The First Order has reinstated the program initiated under the Empire to build a Clone Army, and their influence is spreading across the galaxy, overseen by General Hux.

In this time, the Resistance has been busy strengthening their position and amassing more recruits, gaining nearly enough support to strike back against the First Order.

Tragically, during a diplomatic voyage to Coruscant, a Resistance vessel containing General Leia Organa was attacked by surprise and destroyed. Her sudden death brings chaos and disorder to the Resistance leadership...

—Part 1—Chapter 1: Excommunication—

He felt empty.

The loss of his mother's presence in the Force stabbed at his soul in a way he would never have imagined possible. On an intellectual level, this is what he thought he wanted—the end of the Resistance leadership. Surely this would cripple their strategic capability and diplomatic influence. This could only benefit the First Order. He should be happy.

He had long taken for granted his mother's signature in the Force, reaching across the galaxy to carve a hold in his spirit. Now, as he stared into the void of space from his private quarters on the Supremacy II, her absence had left a gaping wound in him, and he felt enormously out of balance. Only now, facing the knowledge that he was truly the last of his bloodline left alive, did he realize what his mother had meant to him.

How had it happened? She died suddenly—he had felt it. It seemed unlikely that a freak accident could have claimed his mother's life—she was too careful and too well protected. However, he could think of no organizations besides the First Order with any reason to want her dead. Though cartels and other unscrupulous groups clearly preferred the First Order to the Republic, they nonetheless benefited from the existence of rebel groups. The implicit threat that they might cooperate with Resistance groups if the First Order didn't deliver on its promises was a bit of leverage they wouldn't want to give up.

So how had she died then? He had ordered no attacks, and was unaware of any imminent engagements between his forces and the Resistance. Even as his spirit teetered on the edge of a great void, his mind reeled, searching for an explanation.

Without warning, the door to his chambers suddenly slid open. He quickly reset his mask of vitriol, and whirled on the arrogant intruder. Expecting none other than General Hux, the only individual with enough temerity to think he could enter Kylo's room without advance permission, he was appalled to discover an armed complement of stormtroopers hurriedly bustling in. As the troopers circled him on all sides, he felt the pit of his stomach drop as he realized what this was all about.

"What stupidity is this?!" he screamed at them. "If you think there is any authority on this ship that can protect you from what I will do to you for this, then you're too ignorant to live!" He raised his hand to seize the larynx of one of the stormtroopers, but to his astonishment, the Force paid him no heed. In fact, he could barely move at all.

"I told you his sentiment would make him weak."

Kylo Ren recognized the voice as that of General Hux, who was just filing in around the last of the stormtroopers. Following behind him was a figure clad in black, lightsaber at his hip, whose arm was held outstretched. As Kylo took in the pair of traitors in his midst, Hux's eyes narrowed as his lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk.

"Hux," Kylo Ren spat venomously. All he could do was stand there seething as Hux sidled up in front of him. Hux had always been an irritant, but he was an irritant with his uses, and an irritant Kylo believed he could control. Kylo would make him pay, but for now, he found himself unable to command the Force to his bidding. He was helpless.

"I always knew you were weak and unbalanced. Ever since your treasonous murder of Supreme Leader Snoke, I've been desperate to put an end to you. I regret that it took this long to finally cut off your misguided reign, but it seems I wasn't alone in my desire for regime change. Naturally, our mutual friend here needs no introduction?" Hux gestured to his left, toward the darkly dressed man who had followed him into Kylo Ren's chambers—a man basking in his unearned superiority, his arm gingerly outstretched towards Kylo, smiling.

Kylo Ren shifted his glare in the direction Hux indicated. "Faris, what is the meaning of this? How do you explain this betrayal?" he growled.

Calmly and evenly, the man finally spoke. "Under Snoke, the Knights of Ren had a purpose. It wasn't glamorous, but we were utilized, and we could believe that our importance would only grow as you gained influence within the First Order. Sadly, your rise to power has been a tremendous disappointment… I never imagined you would squander us so totally." He paused, glancing briefly at General Hux. "It was time for a change in leadership," he added, grinning.

"You think this two-faced worm will lead you to glory then, is that it?" Kylo stammered. Speaking was getting progressively more difficult. It seemed Faris's hold was extending beyond just Kylo's limbs.

"Of course not—that's my job. The good general recognizes the importance of the Force when it comes to the leadership of this galaxy. That if I agreed to overtake you, he would pledge his loyalty…"

"You think…?" Kylo began, but the next words caught in his throat. Hardly able to breathe, he could not utter his warning to Faris. "Loyalty" is not what Hux was offering.

"I'll show the others just how influential they can be," Faris mused, a distant and hopeful look on his face. "No more hiding in the shadows for the Knights of Ren…"

Kylo's eyes darted to Hux, whose pridefulness practically oozed from his pores. He was beaming.

Stepping forward, Hux proclaimed, "And now it is time for you to step aside as Supreme Leader of the First Order. Supreme Leader Faris Ren, if you please?" With a sweep of his arm, Hux backed away again, bowing in deference to his new ruler.

With that, Faris Ren unleashed a devastating psychic attack, and everything in Kylo Ren's world went dark.

Finn's brow crinkled as he took in what he was hearing. "You're saying she knew before the rest of us? How?"

"I don't know, probably some Force thing… The general used to have weird premonitions about things too," answered Poe under his breath.

The two men were standing in a wide hallway toward the end of a wing of residential units at the Resistance base on Dendrokaan. Rey was sitting quietly in the common area at the very end, seated on the couch, looking lost. Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 were with her, quietly keeping her company as they mourned together.

"And where was she when you found her?"

"She was just running through the halls in a panic when she practically collided right into me. Started begging me to check up on Leia's mission—which I did, and at first, everything seemed fine. It was seconds later that StratComm finally interpreted the relays for what they were." Poe paused, craning his head around to look at Rey sitting in the other room. When he continued speaking, it was even quieter than before. "At that point, she just looked like something inside her had broken, and I started walking her back here."

Finn sighed. "And that's when you bumped into me," he observed.

"Yeah. Has she said anything since I left her with you?"

"No, she's been practically catatonic. Have you learned anything I can tell her yet?"

Poe's expression hardened, considering Finn's question. "Yes. I have."

Rey was staring blankly at the floor in the common area outside her quarters, her legs folded up under her on the couch. She wanted to collapse into a ball on the floor and just let herself cry, but stubbornly, she refused to allow herself that release. Leia, General Organa, had been like a mother to her—the only mother Rey had ever known, certainly. She had felt Leia die, and her bones ached at the loss.

Chewbacca mewled sadly from his seat on the couch opposite her, and 3PO stood at quiet attention with his arm resting on R2's head, the two of them intoning mournfully at periodic intervals. Down the hall, she could hear Poe and Finn exchanging hushed words. She was unable to make out what they were saying, but every so often she heard her name.

After a time, Finn entered the commons and quietly made his way over to her, settling himself next to her on the couch. He wanted to say something comforting, but couldn't find the words. He took her hand and gently squeezed it, stroking her knuckles.

"Was it the First Order?" uttered Rey, her voice barely above a whisper. Chewbacca lifted his head to look at her. These were her first words since she'd stopped screaming.

Finn had to clear his throat before anything would come out. "Reports confirm that a Nebulon-K frigate suddenly dropped out of hyperspace and unleashed a small squadron of TIE fighters, which overwhelmed the transport, reboarded the frigate, and warped back out shortly after destroying it." Finn sighed deeply. "Supposedly the whole thing lasted less than five minutes."

"They were in and out, just like that?" she asked, disbelieving. "They must have known we were coming." Looking Finn in the eyes, she asked cautiously, "What about Kylo Ren? Was he there?"

"It's unclear, but… he must have known about it. I mean, he's the Supreme Leader—I can't imagine that there's much that gets past him," said Finn. Chewbacca growled.

At that, Poe entered the room, BB-8 rolling up after him. "Whether he was there to personally pull the trigger or not, you know that bastard had something to do with it," he interjected, having overheard their conversation from the hallway. "Everything that's awful in the galaxy has his damn fingerprints on it."

In spite of everything she'd seen, everything she'd witnessed, Rey struggled with this. "You think he could… do that? To his own mother?"

"He killed his father, Finn told me himself—you were there." This elicited another sorrowful mewl from Chewbacca, who looked away from them. "Just because the general was his mother doesn't mean he wouldn't try to kill her. Hell, in his deranged mind, it probably gives him more reason to kill her." At these last words, Poe looked away, contempt creasing his face. "He's evil, Rey."

Rey shifted her gaze back toward the floor. It had been two years since Crait, since Luke had died. Not since that day had Rey had any visions of Kylo Ren—the man she had come to know as Ben Solo. According to Snoke, the connection through the Force that she had shared with Ben had been his doing, and after his death she had expected it to stop. However, having had that last vision of him as she boarded the Millennium Falcon to escape from Crait left her with seeds of doubt that their connection was truly ended. At this moment, she wished she had bothered to try reestablishing that connection at any time since then. Without those occasional glimpses into his existence, she really had no idea if what Poe was saying was actually true, or if there was any shred of light left inside him.

Kylo Ren awoke in chains. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, but he was outside, suspended between two trees, his knees lightly brushing against the cold ground as he hung there limply. It was dark. Stars twinkled serenely in the sky above, belying the menace he felt in the atmosphere around him. All he heard was the rustle of tree branches in the surrounding woodland, and the faint trill of forest insects as they went about their existence.

His cloak and lightsaber had been removed. Off in the distance, he thought he could make out what appeared to be the running lights of an older model Imperial shuttle blinking through the darkness of night. His mind was still foggy from the psychic attack he'd received from Faris Ren, but he attempted to reach out with his senses to see what he could learn about his situation. He didn't have to.

"So, you're finally awake."

From behind him, Kylo Ren could hear Hux's greeting, followed by the approach of his footfalls snapping the twigs under his feet. By the tone of his voice alone, Kylo knew Hux meant to have some fun with him.

Hux appeared around Kylo's right side, flanked by two stormtroopers. "I wondered how long it would take you to recover from that attack. You know, I really hate you Force users, but I have to admit, I have a tremendous amount of respect for what you can do. As much as I'd like to believe that I could control the galaxy with military prowess alone, I know that there's really no substitute for a good, mystically creepy Dark Enforcer to strike fear in the hearts of men." He regarded Kylo Ren for a moment, smirking.

When he finally continued speaking, there was much more disdain to his tone. "It's a shame you people aren't good for much else besides being irksome. Faris likes power, and I'll give him that, but I can tell he has no real interest in ruling. Just as well. With him at the helm as a figurehead, I will finally be able to steer this galaxy in the direction it truly needs to go. It's lucky I didn't try to kill you before I was able to discover how usefully he could be manipulated. Patience is indeed a virtue." Hux stared down upon him with his arms crossed behind his back, chin raised in smug arrogance.

"You're a fool," Kylo groaned as he hung limply from his chains.

"No, you're the fool," Hux spat. Predatorily, he began walking circles around Kylo Ren, and Kylo noticed there was a small knife glinting in his hands. This wasn't a weapon designed to be an instrument of murder—Hux had other intentions.

"For as long as I can remember, I've had to put up with your weakness. Ever since you joined the First Order I've had to clean up after your messes and do your bidding even when I could tell it was self-serving and foolish. You were always so preoccupied with your past that you could never clearly see what the best course of action was. We could have crushed the Resistance on Crait, but you were so hell-bent on destroying Skywalker that you allowed them to escape. As a result, they now have more followers buried in more corners of the galaxy than they ever had under Supreme Leader Snoke, and even he was overly concerned with your bloodline. I'm just glad I get to be the one to finally see an end to you and your impotent rule."

At that, Hux stopped his pacing and stood to face his captive. Kylo Ren was dangling low, his knees almost touching the ground. Hux got right in front of him, fingers flexing around the small blade in his hands.

"I have waited a long time for this," Hux said menacingly. After only a brief pause to savor the feeling of having the upper hand on his longtime nemesis, Hux jerked his fist forward, stabbing Kylo Ren in his abdomen and eliciting a grunt of discomfort.

Feigning concern, Hux drawled, "Don't worry, you're not going to die too soon. I wanted to make sure I could enjoy this, so I asked Faris to give me some time with you. When I'm ready to kill you, I have my blaster for that," he said, stroking the weapon at his hip. Then, he stabbed Kylo several more times, in different parts of his torso.

Kylo attempted to knock him back with the Force, but he was still very weak, and the stabbing hadn't helped matters. He wasn't able to do more to Hux than just make him lose his footing and stumble a little.

"Don't tell me you're recovering? I guess I better speed this up a bit. What a pity." And with that, he unsecured his blaster from his belt, and fired it into each of Kylo's thighs.

Kylo reeled in agony, and for a few seconds, he could neither see nor hear anything. Hux was speaking, but he couldn't make it out. Kylo looked out into the white noise of his surroundings, and felt different parts of his body begin to sear. The sensations he registered were a confusing cross between burning and freezing—the stink of charred flesh clarified things for him. After a few interminable seconds, the pain in his limbs abated to the point that he might have been liberated from them entirely. His only indication that he still had arms was the fact that their tensile strength had kept him from hitting the ground.

Hux continued this torture for some time, but became frustrated when it looked like Kylo might be blacking out. He gripped Kylo's chin roughly and sneered into his face, "Wake up, you piece of trash. It's harder to enjoy this if I can't tell you're registering what I'm doing to you. Is it time for us to finally part ways? I wanted to give you a humiliating death—thought I might just have you helplessly bleed out right here on this forest moon as I board my shuttle and watch you fade away. Is there anything you'd like to say to me before I end you?" He held the small knife to Kylo's throat and stood waiting for his response.

Kylo hung from his chains, heaving raspy breaths. Speaking required no small amount of effort. "You killed my mother. Didn't you?" he asked. It was a rhetorical question.

Hux was taken aback, but his consternation didn't last long. "Not the response I was expecting, but good for you—still able to think clearly enough to connect the dots. Well done. I'm only too happy to explain it to you." He straightened, shifting to a more comfortable position as he prepared to monologue for the benefit of his captive.

"Yes, it took some doing, but I finally was able to locate General Organa. I've had spies on all the major planets for a long time, watching and waiting for some sign that the Resistance was hoping to get a foothold. I knew their attempts at rebellion wouldn't amount to more than just a nuisance unless they got some actual money and military might behind their efforts, so it was only a matter of time before some big important planet somewhere would hear from them. One of the biggest of the big planets is Coruscant, and just as I predicted, the Resistance scum were hoping to build an alliance between them. An alliance with such an important system would require that none other than the general herself would have to be brought in to negotiate."

He paused, certainly for dramatic effect. "I know your weakness. Don't think I wasn't aware that you squandered an opportunity to kill your mother once before—the logs on the TIE Silencer showed that you had the command bridge of her flagship targeted, and you switched it off. I knew you didn't have it in you to do what was necessary to rid the galaxy of the loathsome Resistance, and I also knew your sentiment for your mother would be your undoing, giving us an opening to strike against you. So I made preparations, waited for the right opportunity, and when that opportunity presented itself, I made my move." Hux narrowed his eyes, smiling.

Kylo Ren had been listening intently to Hux as he spelled it all out. Hux had diagnosed his weakness accurately. He was conflicted. He was attached. He would pass up opportunities to destroy the Resistance if doing so meant bringing harm to his mother. He could not sever his attachments to his past, and that meant that he could not belong in the First Order. Despite all his previous efforts to do so, he was learning, through his mother's death and the events that followed, that he never really wanted that in the first place. He could have saved himself much torment had he been able to see the pointlessness of those efforts as clearly, and as long ago, as Hux had.

"Thank you…" breathed Kylo Ren, exhaling deeply.

Hux took on a look of perplexity at Kylo's unanticipated thanks. His puzzlement didn't fade quickly enough, leaving him completely unprepared for what happened next.

With a twitch of his fingers, Kylo Ren sent Hux flying backward into the nearest tree. With the impact, both his knife and his blaster were ejected from his hands, falling to the ground, leaving Hux stunned and unarmed. With a second twitch of his fingers, Kylo summoned Hux's blaster into his own hand, immediately aiming it above himself into where the chains suspending him from the trees were anchored. He fired once, then again, dropping softly to his knees, and his heavy arms fell to rest at his sides, blaster hanging limply from his right hand.

The two stormtroopers ran to Kylo Ren to attempt to restrain him once more, but as the first trooper made it to him, Kylo was already standing and prepared with enough command of the Force that he could pull the soldier's consciousness from him with a swipe of his hand. The second stormtrooper was easily felled with a blaster bolt to the face, and Kylo could once again focus on the true target of his vengeance.

Hux was back on his feet, irate and terrified. He looked around helplessly for his weapon, finding only the small blade. Hux wasn't stupid enough to take on even an injured Kylo Ren with nothing but a three-inch blade, so instead of engaging him, he turned tail and bolted for the Imperial shuttle blinking placidly in the distance. His determination galvanized, Kylo Ren lifted the blaster and fired, striking Hux in the back. Hux fell into the dirt, wounded but not out.

Kylo staggered to his feet. Circulation was returning to his arms, but they still felt like lead, and the chains, though broken, trailed from his wrists. As he approached the prone Hux, he felt the blaster almost slide out from his grip more than once—it took a concerted effort to keep his fingers wrapped around the handle. Kylo was bleeding heavily from the blaster fire to his thighs, and every step felt like lightning to his fried nerves. Eventually, he made it to where Hux was lying, heaving in pain and ineffectually clutching at his back where he'd taken fire.

Flailing in the dirt, Hux managed to roll to his side, trying to make eye contact with his attacker without putting weight on his back. Hux shrieked up at Kylo, incensed at how the tables had turned, "You son of a bitch! I was meant to rule this galaxy! Why is it so hard to kill you?! How is it that you always manage to ruin everything?!"

Kylo looked quietly down upon his mangled former captor, regarding him disdainfully. "Don't talk about my mother that way." With that, Kylo shot Hux once more in the chest, leaving him there to die slowly, bleeding out on the floor of the forest moon. Kylo Ren boarded the old Lambda-class T-4a Imperial shuttle, lifting off as Hux faded from view. He hoped the poor general had enough presence of mind left to him that he could at least appreciate the irony of his situation.