"It's a good crystal," Ben says, studying it in its silver case. He holds the case out to Finn. "Not cracked, like mine."
"Your crystal is cracked?" Luke gapes at him.
"Why do you think it splinters and sparks so much?"
"Ben, that's unstable!"
"You never built one, so you don't get to talk," Ben retorts, and Luke scowls. "Touch it," he encourages Finn.
"What happens if I do?" Finn questions. R2 and BB-8 play at the hologame table and bleep at each other, arguing.
"Just do it," Poe says. "I'm curious."
"If I blow you all up," Finn warns. "Your wife won't be very happy, Solo." Rey's in the cockpit, flying the ship with Lando.
Ben huffs. "You won't."
Finn grabs the crystal, and it starts to glow a distinct lavender that brightens into a vivid purple.
"You are a descendent of Mace Windu," Maz declares. "He, too, wielded a saber of that color."
Jedi are terrible at keeping to their own codes, Finn thinks to himself. "Is it that unusual?"
"Yes," both Ben and Luke say.
"See, Finn? You're special." Poe winks at him.
Ben chortles, and Finn gives him a look. "What?"
"It's obvious to everyone that Rey and Ben aren't the only romance on board," C-3PO puts in.
Finn grins.
"I hate this place," grouses Hux, glaring at the cold plate of green meat and bread.
"Really? Tell me again," Phasma drawls.
"Snoke's going to know, Phasma," Hux insists.
"What, that we're captured? That's obvious." She tears off a piece of bread. "As for the rest of it, I doubt it very much."
"But what if he does?"
"Are you worried that will affect the troops' loyalty?" Phasma peers at him, her helmet taken away some Resistance pilot. Hux always loathed that he couldn't see either of his compatriots' faces, but now that Phasma is constantly unmasked and he has to see her facial muscles twitch and the glare of her eyes every single damn second.
At least he could pretend he had her respect before. Now Hux knows: she respects his rank, not him.
"My troops will obey me," Phasma says. "If I assert loyalty—"
"Why would you even do that?" Hux spits. "I know you hate me."
"I don't hate you, General. I think you overlook things."
Hux bites into the meat. The spicy flavor makes him gasp and sputter. "What things?" he croaks.
"If you want loyalty, inspire it in your troops. Memorize their numbers. Learn their traits. Go into combat with them."
"I've already had my fill of battle," Hux retorts.
"You've never been in a battle in your life."
He has, though. One on one. With the other cadet punching, scratching at Hux's eyes, knocking Hux down against the cold dirt and pressing his thumbs against Hux's windpipe—it wasn't supposed to be this way, it was supposed to be you strangled, it was supposed to be me watching life fade from your eyes, not you glaring at me while I drool and my eyes stream—I was supposed to make Father proud—Mother, how?—until Hux overpowered him, wrapping the rope around his neck and snapping it. And the cadet's horrid limp weight—Hux shudders as he remembers it. He stuffs more meat into his mouth, hoping it burns away any ghosts from his eyes.
But that's not the sort of battle Hux supposes Phasma would respect.
"Then you'll be able to command them," Phasma continues.
Hux can't stand the thought of listening to any sort of lecture right now. "What do you think Snoke's doing right now?"
Phasma backs down, but it still feels sneaky to Hux. "I assure you he's not rescuing us. He's going to ensure he gets Kylo Ren and that scavenger."
Hux's mind sifts through all the files he's read about the Emperor.
In time, he will seek you out.
His compassion for you will be his undoing.
No one feels compassion for Snoke, this Hux knows. But what will Snoke require to convince either Kylo Ren or Rey?
Or really, who?
"Can't believe you've gotten me sucked into another one of these galactic wars," Lando says to Luke with a sly smirk.
"Your choice." Luke shrugs.
"Hey." Lando reaches out and catches Luke's arm. Chewie snorts. "Maz said you needed me, but I don't know why."
Luke doesn't know why, either, and says so.
Chewie snarls. Remember.
"Remember what?" Lando demands.
The Rebellion, Chewie responds.
A voice, like Yoda's and Obi-Wan's together, floats through Luke's mind. Remember what you did for the Rebellion, Luke… remember what you fought for. Remember who you fought for.
Remember them, and leave your failures.
Luke shakes his head. "Thank you," he says to Lando.
When they land on Dagobah, Luke smiles at R2. "Careful of the swamp," he warns the others.
"What are we looking for, Maz?" Lando asks as he helps Leia out. Leia rolls her eyes.
"Luke knows," Maz answers simply.
The sticky air glues Luke's beard to his face with sweat. "If Yoda wanted to see me, he would have come for me. He never spoke to me in all those years I exiled myself. Nor did Obi-Wan, or my father."
"They were waiting for you, Luke."
Luke's boots sink in mud. He turns back. "Ben, you help Finn build that lightsaber." He knows his nephew might want to come, but Luke wants no one around when he confronts them. He's not sure who will be angrier or more disappointed in each other—them with him, or him with them.
Although, really, he thinks. They have no right to criticize.
"This is where you trained?" Leia asks, her nose wrinkling.
"Ahch-To was much better," Rey agrees.
"R2?" Luke will take the droid with him.
"We'll just wait here!" Poe calls.
Luke spins around again. "That's a good idea. No one should go anywhere. There are no people, but there are plenty of… creatures here. And other… things."
Rey's brow creases. "Like what?"
"Can't you feel it?" Ben asks. "This planet is strong with the Force."
And not just the Light Side. The heat prickles against his skin as he plod on, ducking beneath drooping trees and vines. R2 sticks close behind him. There's also a current of darkness whispering from the shadows and fog drifting over the planet.
"Luke." That voice, that familiar voice, cracks through the air.
"Obi-Wan!" Luke searches. "I can't see you!"
"I'm still here." And then Luke sees his old master, appearing through the swooping branches of a tree.
"Young Skywalker," says another voice, the voice Luke always associates with Dagobah.
"I'm sorry I failed you," Luke says. "I failed you both. I didn't listen…" The Dark Side, forever will it dominate… "I was arrogant. Because you were wrong about my father, I thought—I thought—"
"You could bend the Dark Side to your will," his own father finishes. "We have seen." Anakin Skywalker looks at him with nothing but pity. "Why didn't you ask us for help?"
Luke shakes his head. "I wanted to fix what I'd started."
"But, fix it you could not," Yoda observes.
"Your granddaughter," Luke says to Obi-Wan as the shrill cry of some sort of bog creature echoes through the swamp. "She's with us now."
Obi-Wan smiles. "I know."
"Strong in the Force, she is," Yoda agrees. "And strong also is your nephew."
Luke can't resist smiling even as R2 bleeps nervously. "Yes. They got married. I married them." He doesn't care about the frown that appears on Yoda's face.
"What do you know, Obi-Wan!" cries Father, grabbing his old mentor's shoulder. Obi-Wan can't keep a smile from his own face.
"The Jedi code this does not follow," Yoda observes.
"They're more powerful together than they are apart," Luke says. "He came back from the Dark Side. Like you, Father. He and Rey…" He delves into the Force bond, what Maz suggested about the prophecy, about Snoke being Darth Plagueis. "Is it true?"
"Of this Darth Plagueis I have heard, but never faced him," Yoda says, and Luke's heart sags within him.
"I can't—I know what it took, what it cost you—" He looks at his father. "To bring balance to the Force. I cannot ask Ben or Rey to do that, because they would. They deserve happiness in their lives."
"You know what Ben chose to do was not your fault," Obi-Wan says.
"Not entirely," Luke admits. "But still…" He doesn't think he can bear watching his sister lose her son, watching his nephew lose his wife, or losing both of them himself. Fear closes in around him, shoving its thick hands down his throat and grasping his lungs.
"The Emperor spoke to me of Darth Plagueis once," Father says. "When I asked him about saving Padmé. He said that he could use the Force to create life… that he could keep the ones he cared about from dying." Father scowls. "I doubt very much he cares about anything but himself and his own power."
"Snoke certainly doesn't," Luke agrees. "I don't understand, though: why would he bide his time, wait and let the Emperor—the apprentice who betrayed him—rule and die? Why not destroy his apprentice right away, if he's that powerful in the Dark Side?"
"Because he needs to use other Force users, and he concentrated on staying alive," Obi-wan answers. "And he knew the hearts of humanoids: sooner or later, someone was bound to step across his path that he could manipulate. The Knights of Ren started forming in the twilight of the Empire."
"Snoke plays us like a Dejarik board," Luke realizes. A creature hoots, and Luke shivers, even though sweat drips down his spine, running down his ribcage.
"Indeed." Anakin studies his son. "It's entirely possible he sent me those dreams of Padmé dying. He sees moves and anticipates events long before they come to pass."
Luke absorbs the information. "If you all—all three of you—knew Snoke was Darth Plagueis before, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you appear on Ahch-To and tell me to get my ass back to Leia and—"
"We don't work like that," Obi-Wan informs him. "If we did, don't you think I'd have found my granddaughter? Protected my own child, whom I never even saw before she died?"
"How the blast do you work?" Luke demands, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Tell you we cannot," Yoda says, giggling. "But understand you must: figuring things out for yourself, though painful, a purpose it serves."
"Can you help us at all?" Luke pleads, desperation stinging in his stomach. "Appear to Ben, to Rey—it would mean so—"
"Luke," says Obi-Wan. "You are the son of the Chosen One."
"Yes, but Maz says the prophecy concerns Ben and Rey. I can't let them die." Luke looks to his father. "Compassion, sentiment, love—call it whatever you want—it saved me, because you saved me. I cannot let them die."
"Adopt their responsibilities you cannot," Yoda observes.
"But," says Father. "You're starting to sound more like the Luke Skywalker I remember."
"I don't care who I am anymore. I just want—" Luke throws his hands in the air. "Why were we supposed to come here? Maz said it would help us. You're not helping." He sounds like a petulant moisture farmer again, and he doesn't care.
"You can't see?" Father asks softly. "We can't change you. All we can do is encourage you."
"That's not—"
"Darkness is here," Obi-Wan interrupts.
"Yes, I know, the Cave of Evil—"
"No!" Father glares at him. "Listen."
The swamp sizzles as Luke strains to hear.
A bomb goes off.
"Isn't it cool? Look at it, Poe!" Finn slashes his blazing purple lightsaber around until Rey winks at Ben and draws her blue one.
The heat simmering against the marshy ground of the planet snaps and explodes, throwing Ben into a tree. He sees stars, white stars, and gray, and hears nothing. And then a tinny sound scratches through his ears, and he realizes that Rey's screaming.
The brightness clears and the gray and green scenery of Dagobah fills Ben's vision. Rey kneels over something—someone—sobbing.
Ben staggers to his feet, stumbling towards her. From the corner of his eye, he sees Finn rushing over.
Maz.
The orange woman lies with her head against a tree root, her goggles cracked and her torso twisted in an unnatural position, blood soaking through her shirt.
"We need bacta!" Finn hollers.
Maz grabs Finn's hands and tries to speak. All that comes out is a gurgle, and then, words: "Don't let these beasts win." She gags again, coughing on her own blood, and then her ever-searching eyes still.
"No," whispers Mother.
"Not to be the bearer of more bad news," begins C-3PO delicately. "But there are surely—"
A green cannon shot jams through the air, nearly grazing Rey's head. Ben cries out.
"We have to get out of here!" Poe bellows.
"Luke!" Lando yells.
BB-8 beelines for the Millennium Falcon.
"No, that's where they're expecting us to go!" Ben shouts.
The droid continues until it suddenly shrieks and races back towards them. Behind it, from the dense forest of trees braided together with shadows, comes mud-strewn stormtroopers.
"Shit!" Poe yelps. "BB-8, hurry!"
"We can't leave her!" Rey cries.
"Rey, we have to!" Finn shouts.
Ben ignites his lightsaber. Beside him, blue and purple flash and burn.
And green. Luke bursts through the trees, lightsaber blazing.
Mother pulls out a blaster and expertly picks off two stormtroopers as Ben, Rey, Finn, and Luke rush at them. Lando, too, grabs a blaster as C-3PO, R2, and BB-8 take refuge behind a massive tree. Chewie fires his bowcaster, guarding Poe in an almost protective stance.
"Traitors! You're all traitors and scum!" shout the stormtroopers.
They don't know what they're saying, Ben thinks with a pang.
Luke grabs Rey by the shoulder and shouts something, and then grabs Finn.
He said to get to the Cave of Evil! Rey relays.
What? Why? Ben's heard stories of this cave that contains the Dark Side, and it's already all he can do to push down the frantic arms of the Dark Side that fly out, seizing him and threatening to pull him down, down to a place where he's Kylo Ren again.
And with that break in concentration, Ben backs up against a gnarly tree root, and tumbles backwards. He lands on his elbow. He gasps. His lightsaber—it's gone. But he can still hear it hissing. His hand frantically whips out, trying to grab it as a stormtrooper appears over him and reaches down.
"Take this, traitor scum!" There's a flash of splintering red, and the stormtrooper's grabbed his lightsaber, and Ben flings his hands up to call for the weapon but he's too slow, and light itself slices through his wrist.
A green blade appears through the stormtrooper's chest. "Ben!" Luke leans down, hauling Ben to his feet, but Ben's still screaming as pain bites and tears at his wrist, and his hand—
And Ben looks down to see that he has no hand left.
"Get to the cave!" Luke screams again, and Rey sees him half-dragging Ben there. Rey sees an arm that ends at the wrist in Ben's mind, and almost vomits.
"Let's go!" Lando dashes ahead with the droids. Finn hesitates, then drops to his knees to grab Maz's body. Rey runs straight ahead, towards a cave that draws her, tugs at her very essence. She runs, even though part of her revolts in terror.
Inside the cave, she sees the droids gathered, Lando and Luke clutching Ben, and she falls to her knees beside him. Chewie roars as he ducks inside.
"We can hide in here—they won't come—" Luke starts.
And Ben starts to scream, and Luke, and Finn behind her and she's screaming too, and Poe and Lando clap their hands over their ears, feeling the terror and the dread and the intoxicating whiff of power, but they at least know where they are.
Rey screams as she plunges her own lightsaber into Ben's heart, sees him reach for her like he loves her, like Han reached for him, only he falls before he can touch her, and Snoke's laughing and saying, "Well done, Rey," behind her.
"Rey, come back!" Ben calls.
"It's better this way," she whispers, kissing him, but instead of the sweetness he usually tastes on her tongue, it's hot and bitter. "Together, you and I can rule the galaxy." She twists her head, peering behind her. "There's just one person who stands in our way."
And the power grabs him in his chest, draws him forward onto an all-too-familiar bridge, but this time it's not Han calling to him, but Leia. Mother.
Leia Organa. The Resistance scum who styles herself a General, Snoke encourages. Go on.
He slashes his lightsaber down with the same vile ease he killed Lor San Tekka with, and then he's falling too, and Han and Leia's voices echo around him, along with hundreds of other voices, the voices he never heard but he knows are the voices of those he's killed:
Traitor.
Murderer.
My son is dead to me.
"He's turned back to the Dark Side!" Rey sobs, on a muddy field, clothes and hair soaked in rain. "It was all just a trap!" And then she lifts her hands from her chest, and Luke sees the fatal, gaping wound, and she too falls over, face first into the gluttonous mud.
Through the downpour, Luke sees Obi-Wan screaming in fury at him, sees Father glowering at him and shaking his head in disappointment. And then Father reaches for something—his Darth Vader mask—and slips it on, vanishing into the Dark Side once more.
R2 collapses into a pile of molten metal as his nephew slashes it.
And Luke does the only thing he can: he stabs his nephew, watches him die, and then Luke flees, again.
"They're all gone, Finn Windu," sneers Snoke.
Finn clutches his purple lightsaber, gazing all around him at the bodies of Rey, Luke, Leia, Chewie, Maz, Ben, and Poe.
Snoke laughs and stands, a black darksaber in his hands and slashes at Poe's body, and Finn's screaming, but he can't do anything to stop it—he can't move—if he really wanted to, surely he could move, but he doesn't want to because he's afraid but he does want to, he really does—
"Coward," Snoke says. "You fancy yourself a Jedi, but you are the furthest thing from a hero."
And Finn's lightsaber glows in his hand, and he tries to drop it, but he can't. It sticks to him, searing to his skin, until it explodes and all he sees is violent violet—
A furry hand grabs him, dragging him away from the murderous purple, tossing him to the muddy earth. Finn gulps in the fetid air as Chewie dives back into the cave, pulling out Luke and Ben, and lastly Rey. Poe and Lando lean against a moss-covered boulder, and C-3PO keeps muttering, "Oh, dear. Oh, dear."
But when Chewie returns with Maz's body, Finn realizes his vision might be less of a nightmare than the group they're currently in.
"Where's Leia?"