This Awful Energy
Summary: It was simple: he was shrouded in darkness, and she in light. But when she discovers who she truly is, a new legacy is thrust upon her. Can Rey cope with the truth of her own past?
Author's Note: Good evening lovelies! I apologize that this has been update so late. I also apologize that it is so short. But this does have a lot of important information here. Also, I feel as though I should note, the Disciples of Ragnos is from the Extended Universe – if you're interested I would look in to them.
I just want to say thank you to very who stuck by Balance, and this story as well. I know my writing/updating schedule has been crazy – it's actually a New Year's Resolution of mine to work on it. So, it is my plan to have more updates coming at you soon!
Chapter Three: Mind Games
Kylo Ren looked out at the vast expanse before him. The darkened sky was highlighted by bright stars from systems far away. He looked out proudly at the expanse before him, knowing that he and the First Order were slowly bringing each of those systems under their control. The desolate planet that hovered just below the star destroyer Retaliator would soon fall as well. Even now, storm troopers were bringing the last remnants of the Resistance on the planet to heel. Soon enough, elite forces were ensuring that the planet and its inhabitants would be amenable to the First Order's cause. If all went according to plan, Kylo would receive vital information from one such inhabitant. He could not help but fear a brief surge of pride at all of the latest developments in his mission.
He could feel the summons like a faint pulse in the corner of his mind, interrupting his more pleasant thoughts. Supreme Leader Snoke was calling for him. Immediately, Kylo Ren broke from his peaceful musings to attend to much more pressing matters. It would not do him well to keep the Supreme Leader waiting for too long. He turned on his heel from his command spot on the bridge of the Retaliator he now commanded. Undoubtedly, his master would want updates on the progress of the mission entrusted to him.
Kylo Ren walked briskly as he made his way to Supreme Leader Snoke's receiving chamber. Storm troopers stepped aside, parting the way as he marched down the corridors of the destroyer.
"Excuse me, Lord Ren," A voice disturbed his thoughts, causing the knight to pause. Kylo turned to see a young officer shifting under the knight's scrutiny. Kylo was about to punish the insolence of the lowly ensign that dared to interrupt him, but his mood was still pleasant and he was feeling rather generous.
"Yes, Ensign?" Underneath his helmet, Kylo Ren sounded terrifying.
The young officer looked askance as he relayed the message, "We have just received word from the forces on the ground. The sacking of the planet's capital city was a success. Moreover, the target has been found and subdued. They will return shortly with the prisoner, my lord."
"Very well, Ensign Rake," Kylo's voice boomed with authority. Although the helmet masked his tone well, there was no denying that he was pleased with the news. Now he would have a substantial update to relay to his master. "When the landing team has returned, immediately prepare the prisoner for extraction." The quaking ensign nodded before turning away from Kylo, scurrying off to complete his new orders.
Kylo turned once more, making his way to Snoke's receiving chamber. His master's summons had become stronger the more the apprentice delayed: the pulsing feeling in his mind had now become a pounding that could no longer be ignored. The door to the receiving chamber opened quickly as he approached, and upon crossing the threshold, the pounding in his mind stopped entirely. Snoke's holographic projection was already there, waiting for him to arrive. When he reached the center of the room, he took to his knees and lowered his gaze in deference to his master.
But Supreme Leader Snoke did not have time for any further stalling. A raspy voice asked, "Have you any updates on your new mission, Lord Ren?"
Kylo unlocked the back of his helmet and removed the mask before he nodded, "The defector has been found cowering on a moon of Mandalore, master. He has been secured and is being prepared for extraction as we speak."
"Very good," The pleasure was evident in Snoke's voice, and Kylo Ren beamed with pride. He was determined to prove himself since the unfortunate incident on Starkiller Base, where he had let the scavenger girl slip away after she had managed to momentarily subdue him. A fluke that should not have happened. His blood began to boil in both anger and shame at the memory. "I trust you will be giving our new guest a most hospitable welcome."
Kylo's lips curled upward in a most devious smirk, "Of course, sir."
"Find out what the defector knows by any means necessary, Lord Ren. It is imperative that we have confirmation before we move forward with our plans."
Kylo Ren nodded at his master's orders, which he was always happy to oblige, "It will be done, Supreme Leader."
With a wave of his hand, Supreme Leader Snoke dismissed him. Kylo Ren turned to leave the receiving room. He secured his helmet as walked towards the door; he would not want his face to betray his giddiness at the delightful turn of events. As he made his way out of the doors and into the cold corridors of the ship, his thoughts drifted towards his new prisoner. If the defector could confirm their suspicions, and their plan moved forward without any delays, the fate of the entire galaxy would change irrevocably. He would be able to surpass the legacy of his own grandfather, and bring the galaxy under the influence of the Dark Side once and for all.
His thoughts of dark grandeur carried him to the opposite side of the destroyer, where his new guest would be waiting for him. He entered the extraction chamber to find the defector strapped on to the upright gurney, unable to move. Excellent, he thought to himself as he circled his prisoner like a predator about to pounce on his prey. The defector's eyes went wide at the first site of his captor, and he began to tremble.
"Elix Magistar," Kylo's mechanical voice boomed as he took his position in his prisoner's direct line of vision. He eyed the defector curiously; the man was over twenty years his senior, with sporadic flecks of gray in his dark hair. But the man looked much older than that, much more worn down. Perhaps his cowardice had caused such premature aging. There was also the unmistakable hint of Corellian brandy about the room. Had the man truly been drunk as the time of his capture? It was no mystery as to why the invasion went as smoothly as it did. Inwardly, Kylo scoffed at the pathetic nature of his new captive.
The defector's eyes went wide at the use of his given name, and not the pseudonym he had been falsely registered under for over a decade. Immediately, the old man began to quake on his gurney. "Please, please – you've got the wrong guy. Whatever you think I did, I promise I didn't do it. I'm just a miner. I didn't do anything."
"Silence," With a wave of a hand, all sound coming from the mouth of the defector ceased. Instead, all that the prisoner could do was choke on his own words. Kylo Ren had no need for the man's useless begging. "You defected from the Disciples of Ragnos years ago. The First Order has been tracking the whereabouts of surviving Disciples, Magistar. We have been aware of your location for quite some time – it is no use lying to us."
Kylo released his hold on the man's throat, allowing him to respond. The older man was shaking in the gurney as he stammered, "The – the Disciples are all but extinct. The Republic saw to that. I had no choice but to run from them. They would have killed me with the rest of them."
Kylo Ren was growing exasperated with the man's excuses. He did not have time for the man's stalling. With a single wave of his band, the man's chain of excuses once again devolved into a mere choking sound. As the captive realized his means of communication was now cut off, Kylo Ren sized him up. The defector was barely versed in the Force, having only a mild sensitivity. Peripherally, however, Kylo could sense that the man had come into contact with some very powerful people. From underneath his helmet, the dark knight's lip contorted into a smirk. This was what he needed to find out.
"You have information that I need on the Disciples of Ragnos," Kylo boomed as he circled Magistar, "I have no desire to listen to your excuses anymore."
Slowly, he began to push himself into the thoughts of the man strapped to the gurney. With very little difficulty, Kylo began to probe his way into his captive's mind. Elix Magistar cried out in agony at the intrusion. Kylo paid no attention to the man's shrieks. He pushed in further, until Magistar's mind fully gave way to his demands. The drunken defector's mind put up no resistance to the Kylo's intrusion. Through the Corellian brandy clouded confusion that was Magistar's memories, Kylo Ren searched for what he was looking for.
His memories were there, but jumbled in a way that the dark knight could not make sense of. The brandy had taken its toll on the man. He could only pull small bits of relevant memories to the forefront of Elix Magistar's mind: a dark planet nestled within the Outer Rim territories, a group of refugees that looked battle-worn and haggard, and an eerily familiar luscious green forest with an abundance of both flora and fauna within it. The last bit of memory caused Kylo Ren to pull back with wonder for a brief moment. He had been to that forest before, in his Force visions with the young scavenger girl. Perhaps she truly was the one that they had been searching for all this time…
The thought made his lips twist upward into a smile.
With a renewed vigor, Kylo Ren pushed deeper into his captive's mind. He could hear the incessant shrieking from the man strapped in the chair, he could feel the man's writhing in the chair – physically trying to remove himself from the painful intrusion. But the dark knight paid no mind to it. He was not at all concerned with the well-being of the man in front of him. He pierced much deeper than he had before, sifting through memories of cowardice and hiding in the years following the reconstruction of the Republic and the new senate's rise to glory. Kylo ignored the irrelevant information floating around in the man's head, focusing on what he had come for…
The same group of refugees that he had seen in the man's head before once again appeared at the forefront of his mind. Although now, the refugees had set up their own settlements on the familiar planet. At that instant, the name of the planet surfaced in Magistar's mind. They were rebuilding the once great planet of Moraband. The knight of Ren's eyebrows lifted at that new information. Kylo watched from Elix Magistar's perspective as the man trudged around the settlement, checking on the wellbeing of the various refugees. But his eyes lingered longer than they should have on one in particular.
To Kylo Ren, this young woman was, for the most part, was wholly unremarkable. The only thing that piqued his interest was that he could sense that she was mildly sensitive to the Force. But to Magistar, on the other hand, that woman was the center of the galaxy. She was so close to him, and yet wholly out of his reach. Her status within the refugees – the Disciples of Ragnos – was far above his own now. Where she had once been his trusted confidant and friend, he could only admire her from afar. And yet, the man would do anything for her, including kill or die for her. He would do whatever he could to protect her and her ch-.
Just then a young toddler, no more than two years old, came bouncing over towards the woman. With all of the affection of a proud and happy mother, the young woman picked up the child and lifted it above her head. The child let out a high pitched giggle at the action; the entire settlement turned around to watch, looking on with both pride and hope at the child. He could even sense a hint of fear in the back of Magistar's mind. But why?
Kylo Ren startled back in shock.
He could sense the utmost power coming from the child. While the mother was only, at best, mildly force-sensitive, the child was radiating with raw and untrained power. It was a power, an aura which he had most certainly felt once before. Kylo pressed further into his captive's memories, focusing solely on the child. The scenery changed, and the woman in the picture looked more tired, more frightened. Kylo could sense the defector's fear in the memory too – their location had been discovered by the New Republic. Magistar had to protect the young woman and the child.
The child was older now, but only by a year or so. There were signs that time had passed; the child was walking with much more ease. It stood taller, and had longer wisps of hair that had been pulled back into three distinct bun on the back of its head. Within Elix Magistar's memories, Kylo Ren gasped.
Kylo had his confirmation.
Immediately, Kylo Ren retreated back from his captive's memories, ignoring Magistar's shrieks of pain as a result of the haste of the process. Leaving the defector immobilized on the gurney, he turned from the room. He signaled to the storm troopers to remove the captive to a holding cell as he stormed out of the extraction room. He did not have time to deal with the captive now. It was his duty to report the news to his master; Supreme Leader Snoke would no doubt be pleased with the latest development.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Kylo hastened to the receiving room for his master. His intense gait was enough for storm troopers to purposefully dodge his path. But he paid the faceless underlings no mind. He had more pressing matters to attend to. He made it to the receiving room rather quickly. As the doors to the great hall were once again opened before him, Kylo Ren stepped in to the room. Before him sat the Supreme Leader, in all his grandeur.
Kylo Ren dutifully fell to his knees, a sign of deference to the Supreme Leader. From his genuflection on the ground, Ren looked up to his master. Without as much as an introduction or a greeting, Kylo Ren stated breathlessly, "All of our suspicions have been confirmed, Supreme Leader. The scavenger girl was the one with the Disciples of Ragnos."
"So it has been confirmed," Snoke's voice bellowed through the large receiving chamber. He sounded pleased, and he raised a holographic hand to his chin in deep thought. Kylo Ren shifted from his position on the ground uncomfortably; it was odd to see the Supreme Leader in such a state. Kylo was unsure of how best to react.
"Yes, Supreme Leader," Kylo Ren replied from his kneeling position. He bowed his head lower to the ground in deference; he was relieved to be able to bring good news before Snoke. After his last mistake on Starkiller, the Supreme Leader would not take kindly to yet another failure. Kylo feared what his reaction would have been.
"And this puts you, Lord Ren, in a peculiar position now. How fares your bond with the girl?" The question was cold and deliberated, and for Supreme Leader Snoke, there could only been one correct answer.
Kylo could feel the hologram's gaze pointed directly at him. He shifted under the gaze uncomfortably, but kept his voice even as he answered Snoke's pressing question. "It remains strong, Supreme Leader. While I cannot locate her, I am able to sense her feelings: her doubts and her fears. She is unable to mask them from me for very long; it is easy for me to deliberately speak to her while she is dreaming."
"Excellent," There was no inflection in the imposing hologram's voice, nothing that betrayed his master's thoughts on Kylo visiting the girl through the Force while she slept. But Kylo could sense that his master was pleased with the developments, and what it meant now for their plan. "You must now do what you can to strengthen the connection you have with the girl. It is only through that connection that we will able to fully use her potential. To finish what the Disciples started."
Beneath his mask, Kylo Ren's lips curled upward in a small smile as he thought about the power that he would be able to achieve once everything that he worked so hard for was realized. He was so close to finally achieving the greatness that his grandfather once held – all he had to do was harness the scavenger's untapped potential.
When Rey awoke the next morning, the air on Ahch-To seemed to weigh down on her heavier than usual. Her mentor had taken on a more serious attitude in recent days, and that seriousness had easily translated into his training with Rey. Everything had taken one a new meaning upon the discovery of the force-bond. Every moment was far too precious to spend wasted in swimming and exploration of the multiple islands. No, Rey had to now dedicate all of her time and energy to training for the inevitable day of reckoning.
Luke Skywalker had been training her in the arts of shielding her mind and emotions from people would seek to invade it. Rey initially had protested the exercise; after all, she had been able to resist Kylo Ren once before. But Luke wanted Rey to master the skill, and that required more practice. And so, her master insisted on deliberately trying to invade her mind in order for Rey to successfully, and repeatedly, keep him at bay.
Rey could feel Luke Skywalker probing around her head, searching for any crack in her armor that would let him in. His attempts were much gentler than her previous experience with Kylo Ren, and it felt as though Luke was going easy on her. Or, perhaps, he underestimated the cruelty that his own nephew could inflict upon others. No matter the cause, Rey held firm, determined that she at least be successful in this one test of skill.
But Luke persisted, the intensity of his attacks on her mind increasing with each failed attempt. It was apparent now that he had been going easy on her. Rey's head began to pound as she continuously blocked him. She sucked in her breath, determined to focus all of her energy and concentration on the task at hand. Sweat pooled at her temples as her whole body began to quiver from the strain of the exercise.
Rey did not know how long she would be able to hold off her mentor. She could already feel her strength draining from every part of her body. She found herself pushing back on Luke, using the same defensive tactic that she employed on Starkiller. But it was no use; Luke was better skilled in blocking her retaliation than her previous opponent had been.
Suddenly, as if a wave had come crashing down upon her, all of Rey's energy disappeared. The wall that she had put up between her mind and Luke came crashing down, and she could feel her master use that to his advantage. He was suddenly inside her head, pouring through her own memories before she even had the chance to force him out once again.
Before she could even think, Rey was reliving her most recent vision. She could see the dark forests of the planet that she could not yet name. She could see the desolate campsite and ruined temples of her visions. She could sense the overwhelming connection to the place she had never been. It was all laid out in front of her, and in front of Luke Skywalker, like a book waiting to be read.
Rey trusted her master, knowing he would never intentionally search through her memories. In her previous failed attempts, he had been able to break down her wall and pull back before any of her secrets were revealed. But this time was different; the memory surfaced before either master or padawan had time to react to it.
Luke instantly pulled back, retreating from her memories like a child who had touched the scalding surfaced of a recently used ship engine for the first time. When Rey finally surfaced from her memories, gasping for air from the exertion, she noticed that Luke had retreated back from her as well. He stood a few paces back from where he had initially been, as if distancing himself as far as possible from her.
Rey looked away from her master, ashamed of her own memories. While she had kept them from Luke intentionally, Rey had not imagined that they could possibly be that bad. After all she had little to information other than what she could gather from her own feelings from the visions. Perhaps, though, Luke Skywalker could shed some light on the true meanings behind these force visions. Reluctantly, she brought her gaze back up to her master, "What do you think it all means?"
Luke shook his head, "That I do not know. But whatever you have seen, whether they be your own memories or a vision of the future, I do sense that the place you saw was shrouded in darkness."
The way in which Luke's words hung in Ahch-To's stale air made Rey suspect that there was more that he was not telling her. Should she have pressed the matter more? A large part of her was desperate for more information. How could she not be? She gave her master a more pointed look, "There is something else you are not telling me. What is it? What is about that place?"
Rey waited, half expecting a rebuke for the accusatory tone she took with her mentor. But none came. Luke regarded her for a few more moments before speaking, "I do not claim to have any insight as to the true meaning behind your vision. I can only infer based upon my own understanding of the Force."
Rey looked at him, waiting for him to go on.
Luke inhaled, "The planet has a name – Moraband. Are you familiar with it?"
Rey shook her head; no, she was not familiar with the planet at all. She had not come across it in her brief studies, nor had she ever heard of the planet at the trading outposts on Jakku. When Rey did not say anymore, Luke continued, "It was once the home planet of the Sith. The planet has been abandoned for centuries, from my understanding."
The Sith. There was a name Rey had recognized, and it was enough to send chills up her spine. "But the Sith don't exist anymore, right? Weren't the last of the Sith destroyed with the Empire?"
Luke shifted uncomfortably at the question, "They were."
Rey's brow furrowed, "But why did I see this? What does any of this have to do with me?"
Her master eyed her, regarding her skeptically, "I cannot say. Perhaps the planet has a tie to your past, perhaps it has a tie to your future. You do not recall ever having been there before?"
Rey shook her head; all of her memories of her life before being abandoned on Jakku were naturally fuzzy. She had been so very young at the time. But the planet had seemed familiar to her, as if she had been there before. She shifted uncomfortably, casting her eyes downward as she contemplated this all. Could she really have some tie to the planet of the Sith? Her stomach turned into a knot at such a thought.
Luke seemed to notice her discomfort. Clearing his throat, he looked squarely at her, "We do not know the true nature of this vision, what it could mean. Even if there is some tie to your past, it does not define you. I chose to not follow the path that my father took, and so the choice remains yours alone. If, at all, your past was shrouded in darkness, you can always choose the light."
Rey bristled with indignation at the implication that she would ever chose anything but. A part of her wanted to fire back at her master for suggesting such a thing. But she bit her tongue and held back any sort of response; she had a feeling that anything she said would only be met with more chiding from Luke.
"Have these visions been weighing you down?" Luke posed the question, and there was nothing but concern for his padawan in his eyes.
Rey nodded, as she ran her hand through the back of her hair. She did not look to her master as she admitted, "They frighten me."
But as the words came out, Rey instantly regretted them. Master Luke had told her time and time again that fear was the path to the dark side. Her words hung in the stale air like an admission of guilt. She looked back up at her master, trying to gauge his reaction to her own confession.
The look in his eyes told her he was thinking the same thing.