The day after their arrival in the Supremacy, Ben walked into their room soon after lunch and stopped by the closed door, looking gravely at Sara, who was on the bed reading a book.
"This is it." he said. "Snoke wants to see you in person. Now."
Sara didn't say anything, she just left the book on the bed and got up, putting her Resistance uniform on. He helped her. Both silent. There was no way to avoid that confrontation: they had to fight Snoke, if not that day then they might not have another chance to face him together. And as long as Snoke was alive there would be no peace in the galaxy, no matter how many rebellions were done or how many resistances were organized.
Ben got Sara's lightsaber from the bedside table and attached it to his belt, then he cuffed her and kissed her lips before putting his mask on.
They walked out of the room and met Jon and the other two Knights who were guarding their door.
"We are on our way to meet Snoke." Ben announced. "You all know what you must do in case everything goes wrong."
"Yes." the three men answered.
"May the Force be with you." Jon murmured.
And the two of them kept on walking, Sara in front of Ben; neither saying a word during the long walk towards Snoke's chambers, there was nothing left to be said. They knew they could be dead in half an hour; they knew about the love they shared and that the future of the galaxy laid in their hands in that moment. As they walked into the elevator that would take them to Snoke's throne room, their eyes briefly met and they silently exchanged what they were feeling: fear of the confrontation and hope that they both survived.
The elevator ascended and a minute later the doors opened, revealing a spacious red room. Sara tried not to laugh at how ridiculous that was; the big bad Snoke had a red room with red guards standing on both sides of his gigantic dark throne. "The guy has an ego." she chuckled. Ben pushed her harder to walk and knelt when they had got close enough to the throne.
"So here you are." said Snoke, in a sibilant, slow voice filled with pleasure. "Well done, my dutiful apprentice, my faith in you is restored." he stared at Sara, a wicked smile in his contorted face. "I finally get to meet my apprentice's plaything." he took a long look at her. "I have to admit I understand the appeal – especially because we all know you're more than what meets the eye." then he used the Force to get her lightsaber from Ben's belt, he analyzed the simple hilt and ignited it. "White crystal." he sounded impressed. "Stories say that the white crystal is attracted to the Jedi who don't like to play by the rules of the Council but are not interested in becoming a Sith either: the Gray Jedi." he paused, still admiring the cold white light of her lightsaber. "Look how beautiful this is: pure, uncorrupted, naturally created white."
"I think it's kinda beige if you look closer." mocked Sara.
Snoke looked at her, turning off her lightsaber and putting it on the arm of his throne.
"Get closer, child." he ordered, rather calmly. But Sara didn't move at his order. "I said, get closer!" he replied, not as calmly as before. And she felt the pull of the Force trying to make her move, but she was able to stop it from controlling her.
"I don't think so." she said with a smile, remaining still.
That angered and surprised Snoke.
"I don't know why I am surprised." he had a nasty smile on his disfigured face. "I shouldn't expect anything less from you. It took me a while but, a few days ago, I realized why your presence seemed familiar. Yes." he spoke at a slow pace. "I remember you; I know who you are, I even know why you were born..."
Ben, who had remained on his left knee and kept his head down since they entered the room, stood up and looked at Snoke then, not knowing what that was about.
"As Dark is created, so is Light." explained Snoke: "Ben Solo was born with a balanced proportion of Light and Dark, both natural to him; he could use both and never fall to either side. A true born Gray Jedi. But to ensure that balance, you came; you were born to be his anchor. A girl of pure Light-power, attracting him immediately even at the tender age of nine."
Sara could feel her heart beating faster, the fear of not leaving that room alive intensifying. She could also sense Ben's fear and conflict – as strong as ever in his mind.
"I've seen it all in his mind." continued Snoke. "All your speeches of 'don't do this, don't listen to the stranger's voice in your head'. Yes, I knew whenever he was with you, because I couldn't get through him. There was this annoying blockage whenever you were around. You. Between me and my most precious ally. It took me a while to realize that it was you who had stopped Kylo Ren from killing Han Solo. You, interfering in my plans, again. But now I'll end this for good."
"Ben will never fully submit to you, not even when I'm gone." Sara spoke angrily, a hint of fear could be heard in her voice. "You said it yourself: he has both Light and Dark inside of him – naturally born with both. You won't be able to corrupt one to favor the other. If you believe killing me will turn him, you're an idiot. The power that bounds people together to fight you is..."
"So this is all about love?" Snoke interrupted her, and laughed: "You thought letting him fuck you would make he remember his love for you and then you would defeat me and take him back to the Resistance? Oh, no, this is too good to be true!" he looked at Ben. "My worthy apprentice, son of Darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader, let's show this stupid girl where your true loyalty lies. Yes, I can feel it, where there was conflict, I now sense resolve."
Sara turned around to look at Ben, who had suddenly stiffened up.
"You were unable to kill your father because of this woman. End her! Complete your training, and fulfil your destiny!" shouted Snoke, furiously.
"Ben." she whispered.
"Nothing you say will change his mind, pathetic child. I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten. I see his mind, I see his every intent." continued Snoke.
Ben took his lightsaber in hand and looked at her, saying:
"I know what I have to do."
But Sara had started to feel apprehensive, her blue eyes were big on her face, showing she feared Ben's next step. She looked at the hilt of his lasersword and then into his eyes. Trust me, he whispered into her mind, and moved his lightsaber as if ready to ignite it and attack her.
"Yes... I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true." spoke Snoke completely oblivious to their mind-link. "And now, foolish child, he ignites it, and kills his true enemy!"
And the sound of an igniting lightsaber did cut through the red-room. But Ben's was still off. Sara turned around just in time to see Snoke's face of shock as he stared at his own midsection, where her white lightsaber had cut him in half.
Ben quickly cut off the cuffs from her wrists with his lightsaber and she summoned her own. Sara looked at him, the reddish light of his sword reflecting in their eyes, they nodded and turned around to defend themselves from the Elite Praetorian Guards. The odds were not in their favor – eight highly trained guards against two not fully trained whatever-they-were.
A furious fight began, and for a moment it seemed Ben and Sara wouldn't be able to defeat all of them. Three guards came on to her and five to Ben. She killed the first one after using the Force to throw the other two away from her, but they ran back towards her before the dead one's body reached the floor and she had to stop the double attack quickly. She killed the second one by running towards him and putting her lightsaber through his stomach, slashing him up to the left shoulder. Then she turned to the third one, but before she could have tried to strike him, he launched his whip staff at her, capturing her lightsaber as if it were magnetized.
"What the..." she murmured.
He quickly pulled her towards him and tried to choke her with his right hand. She managed to get free from his grip by turning the lightsaber off and throwing herself to the floor, she cut the guard's head off before he could grab her again.
Then Sara looked at Ben who fought against three of the Guards now; which meant he had killed two of his opponents. Five down, three to go. She thought as she ran towards them.
One of the three broke his snake-like weapon into two pieces and went towards her, she deflected the assault of one half of the sword but the other one found its target and blood ran down her right arm.
She used the Force to throw him far from her to buy her more time to come up with a plan but she accidentally threw him into some sort of electric blender that ground the guard into tiny pieces.
"This place is really weird." she whispered.
Then she looked up just in time to see Ben put one of the remaining guards on his knees and cut his head off – avoiding having his own head cut off by the other guard in the next second; but this last guard managed to disarm Ben and grabbed him by the neck with his heavy blade, trying to kill him. Sara threw her lightsaber to Ben and he ignited it straight into the guard's head, killing him instantly.
She ran towards Ben, picking up his lightsaber on the way and giving it to him, getting her own from his hands. They looked around the partially destroyed room and smiled at each other, exhausted but relieved.
"What now?" she asked, turning her lightsaber off and hanging it on her belt.
"Now you escape." he said, putting his own on his belt.
"What?" she was not expecting that answer.
"I can't leave the First Order in Hux's hands, Sara – that man is insane. The only way to stop all this is if I become Supreme Leader now." he held her upper arms, making her look into his eyes. "You'll take Snoke's private space craft and go after the Resistance. Find Hope and..."
"What about you?"
"I can defend myself from Hux and Phasma. Snoke was the biggest problem."
Sara nodded and gave another long look at the wrecked room, then she stared at Ben disheveled state.
"Is it wrong that I'm kinda horny right now?" she whispered.
Ben laughed: "A bit wrong. Yes."
Sara kissed him.
"Now, you knock me out and run." he said. "I'll tell them you killed Snoke, the guards, and thought I was dead."
"And they'll believe I did it all alone?"
"They fear the Jedi. They think they are superior beings or something."
"Ok." she kissed him again. "I love you."
"I know." he smiled.
And she put him to sleep.
Sara got out of the elevator and ran to the hangar bay, avoiding being seen by any stormtrooper, and easily boarded Snoke's personal ship. It was not attached to anything in the hangar bay, so she took flight and left the Supremacy as fast as possible, keeping the ship away from the big Dreadnought's sensors and calling Leia at the same time.
"General. This is Sara."
"My dear. Are you alright?"
"I actually have some good news, but I'd rather give them in person. I just stole Snoke's personal ship so I need coordinates before the Supremacy finds me!"
"You escaped?"
"Yes. Now, coordinates!"
"I'm sending you the coordinates, but they have already found us! There are TIE-fighters, AT-M6s, AT-ATs and AT-HHs landing here...carrying something that looks like a big cannon."
"That's a superlaser siege cannon, Ben's told me about it. It's bad."
"How bad?"
"As bad as a miniaturized Death Star." Sara explained.
"Pretty bad, then."
"Yes. I'll be there in about 8 minutes. Don't shoot me."
And she jumped to lightspeed.
Crait
Sara saw the TIE-fighters as soon as she landed on the salt planet. She used Snoke's ship to destroy four of them and landed as close to the entrance of the base as she could. As she walked out of the ship she saw the Upsilon-class shuttle arrive.
Ben. She tried to reach out to him.
Your Supreme Leader's speaking. He replied.
Sara burst out laughing.
I am glad to hear that. And a bit turned on. She replied.
Sorry to say that we'll have to solve that only after the fall of the First Order. Now, get into the base and find a way out of there. That door won't hold against the cannon.
Give me as much time as you can before firing that thing.
Consider it done. He ended the conversation.
Sara ran towards the biggest door she had ever set eyes on and entered the base through a gap on the door's bottom.
She was received by a blast shot – which she stopped mid-air and looked at the three people with blasters in hand that stared at her, shocked.
"Sara?" asked Lieutenant Tallisan Lintra.
"Hey, guys! Where is General Organa?"
"She was over there showing the vulptices to your little girl." said another soldier, Yolo Ziff.
Sara nodded and walked around the former Rebel-base, looking for Leia, observing the decaying machinery and the rusty old V-4XD ski speeders used by the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War that Poe Dameron was trying to fix and clean – unsuccessfully.
"Do those still fly?" she asked him.
"Sara!" he exclaimed, surprised to see her. "I really hope they do. These are the only ships we have here."
She was going to reply when she heard: "Mommy!" and the dark-haired little girl, carrying a small backpack, ran towards her and hugged her legs. She picked her daughter up and hugged her tight. "I missed you, honey."
"I missed you too, mommy." then Hope lifted her head from her mom's shoulder, "Where's daddy?"
"He had to stay behind. He's helping us bring the First Order down."
"Is that true?" Leia asked, approaching.
"Yes. I helped him defeat Snoke and the Praetorian Guards." Sara said.
"All eight of them?" asked Finn, sounding impressed.
"Yes." continued Sara. "Now Ben is their Supreme Leader and he's waiting for the right moment to take Hux down. Hux is the one who controls their military power and he's deranged."
"Who is Ben?" asked Finn.
"My son," Leia answered.
"And mine." said Han Solo, walking towards them with the help of a cane and limping, but looking nearly completely healed. "You know him by Kylo Ren."
And the base became silent. Some people knew about it, but some didn't, so shocked faces were seen all around the Resistance members.
"We need to find a way out of here." urged Sara. "That cannon out there is a superlaser siege cannon, something like a miniaturized Death Star. It's capable of firing a devastating amount of energy, that big door will crack like an egg."
"BB 8 has analyzed the base's blueprints and there's no other way out of here but through the front door." said C3PO.
"So let's make one." said Sara.
"Wait." exclaimed Poe, suddenly. "Do you hear anything?"
"Besides that cannon charging out there... No." answered Han.
"The puppies!" exclaimed Hope.
"Exactly!" said Poe. "They found a way out, all we have to do is find them. Follow me." and they walked deeper into the base.
"Even if we do find a way out," began Finn. "How are we going to leave this planet?"
"Rey has the Falcon, if only we could contact her." said Han.
"I can try." said Sara, reaching out with the Force and looking for Rey. "She's here in Crait too."
Rey. She mentally called. This is Sara.
Hi. Are you with the others?
Yes.
Where are you? Rey asked. I've been unable to find them...
We are beneath the ground. I'll open us a way out and we'll need to board the Falcon to escape. Can you locate me through the Force?
Yes. Find a way up to the surface and I'll meet you there.
Sara opened up a hole through the rocks and everybody walked out, straight into the Falcon. At the same time, the sound of the cannon being fired and breaking the door hit them.
"Let's go." urged Leia. "Quickly!"
Are you safe? Sara heard Ben's voice in her mind as the Falcon took flight.
Yes, we've just left the base. And Hope had asked about you.
I'll end this as soon as possible and be with you two.
What's your plan?
Kill Hux and Phasma. And cut up a deal for the stormtoopers with the Galactic Alliance.
You'll surrender? They'll arrest you, Ben!
I'll have to answer for my crimes, Sara. I did commit some, you know.
She closed her eyes.
"Sara," Leia's voice broke her connection with Ben. "Are you alright, dear?"
"Yes. We must go to Mon Cala. The Galactic Alliance must learn of Ben's plans. Otherwise they might just attack him once he lands."
"I'll try to contact Cal Omas and let him know we are all coming." and Leia ran to the cockpit to make the call.
Notes: a lot of backstory information for this chapter, here they are:
1. The Elite Praetorian Guard was a force of eight human warriors who were tasked with the protection of Supreme Leader Snoke, the leader of the First Order. Following the tradition of the Emperor's Royal Guard, the personal bodyguards of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, the Praetorian Guards wore red robes and armor. They specialized in various martial arts, including Teräs Käsi, and carried various high-tech melee weapons.(Canon)
2. The superlaser siege cannon was a piece of miniaturized Death Startechnology capable of firing a devastating energy pulse along a targeting tracer beam to cause a powerful detonation upon impact. The two-hundred-meter cannon required support vehicles to maneuver it into position during sieges; the weapon was airlifted onto battlefields, and was towed on ultra-dense cables by All Terrain Heavy Haulers. When positioned, the cannon deployed retractable stabilizing outriggers to ground its bulk, and was armed with topside defense turrets for protection while charging. (Canon)
3. Tallissan Lintra, nicknamed "Tallie," was a human female pilot who served as a lieutenant in the Resistance. Before joining the Resistance, she lived on a farm with her father on Pippip 3. She dies on The Last Jedi when Kylo Ren, abord his TIE Silencer, fires againt Raddus' hangar bay, taking out the Resistance Starfighter Corps. (the character is Canon – but I didn't kill her)
4. Yolo Ziff was a human male artist who flew for the Resistance during its conflict against the First Order. In 34 ABY, Ziff created propaganda for the Resistance, and he participated in the Battle of Starkiller Base. (Canon)
5. Vulptices (singular: Vulptex) were a species of fox-like creatures that lived within burrows and tunnels beneath the surface of the salt-covered mineral planet of Crait. They were distinguished by their white, crystalline fur. A group of vulptices was called a skulk. (Canon)
6. Cal Omas was a male Alderaanian who founded the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, government that followed the New Republic. Also known as The Gallactic Alliance, it incorporated most of the known galaxy, and was the first government to achieve that since the Galactic Empire. It was formed on Mon Cala, a planet in the Calamari system of the Calamari sector, located in the Outer Rim. The planet was a shining bluish-white orb from space, due to its ocean-covered surface. The Gallactic Alliance was formed in 27 ABY. (Legends)
Hope you're enjoying this!