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Chapter 7
*The Power of the Dark Side*
Kylo gave Rey a sideways glance. After five long years, they had finally come to this moment. He had chased her from one side of the galaxy to the other. She had always managed to evade him. Until now. Although he would never speak it out loud, he secretly watched in internal tension. Don't make me destroy you, he whispered through the Force. He knew she could hear him. The fact that she could read him like a book was uncanny, but it was a fact. His Master was the only other person who could attain such instant insight to his mind. Rey must be more powerful than he ever imagined.
Rey met his gaze, but her only answer was silence. Perhaps the foolish girl thought she was going to get through this unscathed.
"Dismiss your troops," The Supreme Leader said, his jaw shaking somewhat as he said the words, "We do not need them."
Kylo nodded, then turned to the mass of Stormtroopers and moved his hand in a silent signal. The armored men did as they were told, simultaneously turning on their heels and marching out of the throne room. The massive door closed behind them.
They were alone now, in the highest point of the city. The Throne Room was above the command center in a high tower of glass. It was where his master would stretch his mind across the galaxy, delving into the Dark Side of the Force like a fish in a deep and endless ocean. The Supreme Leader could control countless galaxies from where he sat on his throne, and he didn't even need to lift a finger.
"Her lightsaber," His master hissed the words out slowly, "Give it to me."
Kylo did as he was told. Striding up to the throne, he held out Rey's weapon, and Snoke took it in his pale, blue-veined hands.
"Oh yes," Master Snoke whispered, "I have waited many years to meet you, child."
Kylo backed slowly away and stood off to Snoke's right hand. He stared down at Rey from his place beside the Supreme Leader's throne. There was no way out now. Nowhere for her to hide. She would be like him now, naked and weak against his master's strength.
Snoke's bald head tilted to the side as he gazed at Rey with one of his better eyes, "You are strong in the Force, child. With my teaching, I could make you more powerful than you've ever dreamed."
Rey grit her teeth, "I have a teacher," she spat out, "I will never be your student."
A fierce cackle escaped Snoke's thin lips between his gums, "Oh yes, Luke Skywalker. I believe his tutelage to be somewhat…" He glanced at Kylo then, his midnight black eyes saying a million unspoken words within an instant, "Lacking."
Rey's gaze flickered to Kylo, and he remained unmoving.
"Come closer, child," Snoke muttered.
Rey took three steps closer, her eyes widening as she drew nearer to the ancient being. "You won't convert me to the Dark Side. Soon your reign will end."
"Oh so certain are you?" Snoke muttered, his gaping gums hitting each other in a repulsive smacking noise, "Undoubtedly you believe your pitiful band of Resistance fighters hidden within this city have a chance?"
All the color drained from Rey's features, and her mouth dropped open, "How did you-?"
Snoke cut her off, "You underestimate the power of the Dark Side," he cackled again, "Our security measures have already begun to weed out your cohorts. I foresaw your intentions the moment you came into the planet's atmosphere."
Once more, she glanced at Kylo, and he saw the shock and horror radiate from her eyes. When he'd first felt it, the utter shock of having his thoughts ripped from his head was like a bandage being ripped from a wound. The first time it happened to him, he had been very young. She would get used to it too. In time.
"Yes, it is all but too easy to perceive," Master Snoke muttered, "And your Resistance fleet, coming any moment through hyperspace. They won't receive the welcome they're hoping for."
Rey shook her head slowly.
Supreme leader Snoke flipped a switch in his ebony granite throne, "Admeral Kux, how many Resistance fighters do we have in custody so far?"
"Six so far, Supreme Leader," Kux answered, "We are going through the ranks of the troopers to find the imposters. We will find them all." The intercom shut down with a fluttering noise.
Nobody moved.
Rey's eyes were wide, and she gazed down at her hands.
Kylo stared at her. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists. She was so close. So angry. He could feel the anger radiate off her like heat from a fire. Master Snoke was right. She must have hidden her fighters in the armor of the fallen storm troopers. Kylo had all but invited them inside for supper. It was brilliant, but Snoke had foreseen it. Not only that, but the Resistance was in hyperspace even now, hoping and praying that the shield generators protecting the base were destroyed.
The Resistance would be slaughtered. There wouldn't be a single ship, fighter, or escape pod that would be spared. Their defeat would be complete.
"It is unavoidable, child," Lord Snoke whispered in the silence, "Ever since you were born, this has been your destiny."
Rey shook her head, her eyes still wide, "You're wrong."
"Oh?" Snoke asked, glancing over his shoulder and out the massive window toward the stream of stars above the planet, "Here they come now."
As if in a trance, Rey came up the steps toward the throne and stood beside Kylo. Her eyes were so wide, and her mouth was agape. Her gaze flickered to him once more, and Kylo could hear her voice in his mind once more.
How could you? She whispered to him.
He could see the hurt, disbelief, and anger all rolled into one. She looked up at him with it in her eyes. Don't fight it, he whispered. It will be better for you if you don't fight it.
In that moment, a violent explosion rocked the starlit sky above them as a Resistance war-cruiser came out of hyperspace and collided with the planet's shield. Its flaming debris shattered and fell to the ground in a showering of fiery death and dismay.
Rey began to shake.
