"Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish as his father. So, I destroyed him."

Kylo cursed himself for his slightly heightened voice. His father stood right in front of him. As if the universe itself had turned against him, putting one test after the other on his path.

"My son is alive."

"No. The Supreme Leader is wise," Kylo said cooly, hiding the storm of emotions inside of him. Somehow, the hope in his father's eyes made him hate him even more.

"Snoke is using you for your power," Han Solo urged, walking towards him.

No. Kylo's heart seemed to burst all over again. He knew what this was leading to, what he needed to do. Yet his father's words reminded him of Athena's. You're easier to control when you're alone and broken.

Athena had betrayed him, just like Snoke foretold. And Han Solo was rejecting his nature again, holding on to the idea of Ben Solo, just like Snoke foretold. His father was wrong. He needed to be wrong. Snoke was the only he could count on.

A part of him wished he could turn back time. Go home. Leave the First Order.

"I want to be free of this pain," his voice quivered as he told the truth. "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."

After everything Kylo had done, there was no turning back. No redemption. There was only one path, one choice. And just like Athena's, Han's face was only filled with love. As if he knew the kind of sacrifice he was about to make.

For a second, he hesitated. As he handed his lightsaber to Han, darkness pushed itself over the sun, creeping directly into his heart. No. He couldn't be weak again. Not this time.

When Han fell, Kylo waited for the moment he felt peace. And strength.

Instead, he felt a void of terror staring back at him. No fire, no resolve filled his veins. Only thick black guilt.

OoOoO

Trixi Korr half carried, half dragged the girl down the halls. But adrenaline kept her going. The floor was vibrating as Starkiller Base detonated. Somehow the Resistance had managed to lower the shields.

Trixi, a spy to the Resistance, was currently carrying out Kylo Ren's orders. She hardly believed it herself. But the meeting with him had made a very unexpected turn.

Did she really have another choice? The deal was simple: Get the countess off the base and in exchange, stay alive. Although Ren's plan didn't involve the destruction of Starkiller. He had cleared her a path to the dock, intercepted the signals from the pods to command center and even given her a blaster in case she needed to use it. And he had given her the signal to act way earlier than anticipated. Ren's plan reeked of desperation. Something very familiar to the Resistance. How ironic, Trixi thought.

Starkiller was blowing apart around her.

Whatever bonded the Dark Countess and Commander Ren, it was enough to him to act against direct orders from the Supreme Leader in an insane attempt to fake her death. Kylo knew Trixi was bringing the girl directly to the Resistance. In fact, it was the only thing Trixi could do. If the countess was to survive, she needed medical attention. But he had trusted her with Countess Athena's life, without even asking for further information about his ennemy.

The spy panted as her muscles ached. Trixi Korr had no idea if saving Athena Touissant was a service to the Resistance, or perhaps its downfall. No one seemed to know with this woman.

Korr finally laid the woman's body into the largest safety pod, one large enough to resemble a small shuttle ship. No one would suspect one single pod flying astray with Starkiller collapsing into itself. It was the Commander's own private shuttle – cloaked with the newest technologies, it would be invisible to both Order and Resistance.

Quickly, Korr placed two fingers on the girl's artery to feel her pulse. It didn't look good. But at least there was some medical equipment on board to take care of her during the flight.

With a beeping sound, the shuttle detached itself from the pod. The halls were empty as the evacuation of the entire Starkiller base was almost concluded.

OoOoO

Kylo was weakened. Not just from his wound, but from the torment he still felt, eating him alive more than ever before. He was far from balanced, the Force feeling like sand he tried to grasp with his bare hands. The scavenger though exuded raw strength. There was potential for darkness, more than she realized, although she was fighting to save her traitor friend.

Snow fell silently on the ground. He could barely feel anything else than pain.

"Where is she?" Rey asked, panting between her strikes. She was still an amateur, not trained at all.

She?

"The countess can't help you either," he sneered.

Rey was nothing like Athena. She didn't possess the elegance, the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. While Athena almost danced when she fought, Rey fought more like… him. As if Rey was his own reflection, raw and filled with passion. None of her moves were as smart and refined as Athena's.

His thoughts distracted him, and he almost slipped on the snow. Athena was gone, like his father. His past, finally dead. Why did it feel like he died right with it?

"You truly are a monster," Rey said between gritted teeth, red and blue reflecting in her eyes as she stepped back, fighting off his brutal attacks. An obvious attempt to destabilize him.

"You could become my new apprentice. You need a teacher. Let me show you the ways of the Force," he offered, pushing her back to the edge of the cliff. The planet was literally breaking apart under their feet. In his heart, he knew there was no replacement for the countess. Rey could rise to be his own equal, but never Athena's.

Even if Rey was the same as him and his opposite as the same time, even if there was something connecting them – Athena had changed the course of this story forever.

"The Force," Rey whispered and closed her eyes as if she remembered something. Kylo knew who thought her. And when Rey attacked again, his defenses broke.

OoOoO

"General? What shall we do with her?" Lieutenant Connix asked.

An emergency pod had landed on D'Quar, transmitting a secret landing code indicating it belonged to the Resistance. Yet it was obvious from the design that it was part of the First Order fleet. Two women were found in it. One identifying as Trixi Korr, an officer of the First Order working for the Resistance, and the other one unconscious and wounded.

Medics brought the woman to the base on a stretcher, immediately starting to treat her. In the surrounding chaos, no one had taken a closer look at her. Except Lieutenant Connix. The spy whispered something in her ear.

The black fabric of the woman's clothing was drenched in blood, as was the long cape she wore. Her skin was white, almost translucent, her lips slightly blue.

General Leia Organa bend over the unconscious girl, stroking a long dark blonde lock out her face. A motherly, kind gesture.

"We help her," the general let no room for further questions.

Sorry guys for what I put you through, haha. Were you expecting the twist? :D