STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
"He no longer clings to the simplistic ideals of right or wrong, nor good and evil. He understands now, better than anyone, that darkness and light are intertwined in strange, fascinating ways."
"KYLO REN failed."
Snoke grimaced at the voice of the wavering blue hologram that had dared to appear before him. Settling on a sable throne, the Supreme Leader placed a pallid hand underneath his chin.
"The failures of Kylo were borne from something much larger at work, Sendrik Esso. Be mindful of your place amongst the Ren." Snoke susurrated softly.
Sendrik's horned mask dipped in derision.
"You passively watched as General Hux and Kylo played Galactic Empire. Now look at us, 'Supreme Leader'. Starkiller base is gone. The Galactic Alliance has pushed their offensive into our remaining systems. The First Order has crumbled." Sendrik's anger was palpable across the stars.
Lesser beings would have punished Sendrik for his insolence. However, Snoke understood the Ren's feelings. He pitied the man, in a sense. To be one with such little sight..
Snoke offered the hologram a friendly smile.
"The First Order has played her role. You know Sendrik, as much as I do, the fluidity of the Force. You have seen the visions, haven't you? The same ones that brought us together- the same ones that created the Ren." Snoke said softly.
Sendrik's shoulders lowered as Snoke washed over the Ren's mind with his own thoughts. He gave the man what he deserved-
Feelings of happiness, accomplishment paired with fleeting glimpses of eventual fulfillment.
"I understand your anger. Your confusion. I promise you, as I promised the rest of the Ren this: We will prevent that which has been seen."
Snoke stood from his throne, removing an onyx hood that obscured his face.
An unseen hand forced Sendrik to his knees.
Snoke spoke. His voice was gentle, reassuring one's mind as if a stilling breeze.
"We will bring balance to the Jedi, a lasting cure for a blighted religion."
CORUSCANT
GRAND DIRECTOR GUILMÉTIA SELLA would never forget the first time she exited hyperspace above the diamond world, resplendent in wealth and corruption.
Her personal Galactic Alliance Defender, the Kasshern, hung overworld with a cadre of ships that looked more like a museum than an actual fleet.
Repainted Clone War era Venators and Imperial Star Destroyers took up space beside newer Defender class vessels.
The Defender class star destroyers were similar in appearance to Imperial craft of yore but with wider, larger hulls that were split down the middle.
Below the sea of metal and within Coruscant's cities, an Alliance was breaking at the seams. Senators from a thousand worlds debated on the future of the Galaxy's current hegemony.
It had been one year since the destruction of Starkiller Base.
The resulting hysteria over the loss of a certain Hosnian system sprung the slumbering Alliance into action. A large and centralizing military reforms converted the Galactic Alliance Defense force into the Grand Army of the Alliance. Meanwhile, systems covertly allied with the First Order announced themselves as the Central Federation of Ren, a new regime that seemingly sprung from the ashes of the dark side.
Now, it was being debated if the Galactic Alliance should attack the Ren as well.
After all, the First Order was all but destroyed.
"It's a different world in the senate chambers..I had nearly forgotten. You haven't been on-world yet, have you?"
A voice called behind Guilmétia.
She turned on sharp heels to see Director Avade Pellaeon, son of the late Gilad Pellaeon.
After the fall of the Empire, Imperial warlords were recruited as mercenary armies employed by private worlds.
There had been no standing military in the fledgling New Republic. In that atmosphere, the military autocracy of the Empire lived on.
The Galactic Alliance's current strength was directly tied to the past Empire's vast residual resources. And as such, fostered a breeding ground of parties harboring resentment towards the new Order.
Guilmetía winced as the bright exhausts of two Venators filled her vision.
She turned halfways to Avade, but still did not regard him directly as she spoke.
"Chancellor Holdo is no stranger to Realpolitik. If there are still Imperial sympathizers in the senate- she will snuff them out sure enough." Guilmetía spoke with assurance begetting a higher station.
Avade laughed.
Guilmetía did look at him for a moment, catching a glimpse of a tired smile as he began to speak.
"Much to the chagrin of Organa. I'm sure she would've relished the chance. Leia was always chasing the past- or so I've been told." Avade said conversationally.
Guilmétia winced at the name.
Her younger sister Kor had followed Organa.
A bright girl. Stunning, intellectual- someone willing to do whatever she believed was right- even if it meant disobeying a family made up of former Imperial Moffs.
Kor died on Hosnian Prime, serving Organa and her military junta, the "Vanguard."
Director Sella tightened gloved fingers into a fist.
"Hey, relax."
Guilmetía's jaw unclenched at the warmth of a palm on her shoulder.
Avade chuckled as he stepped in place beside her. His dark brown eyes settled on Coruscant.
"You heard Chancellor Holdo. Leia won't escape us this time." Avade's face darkened.
"But that's not why I'm here. He's awake." Avade said.
Finn.
"Take me to him." Guilmétia said immediately.
After one year he was finally awake.
Now, they may finally get some answers on the First Order and their elusive Ren.
His mind was still swimming in a jumble of thoughts, concepts- images intermixed with voices.
Colors dominated the messages his optic nerves sent to his brain.
Finn closed burning eyes as the flashes he saw grew more violent.
Dark omens, a flaming blue blade that spat sparks and ash.
He had followed this shadow loyally, learning from it. It was then the other came-
What happened?
Pain, darkness.
It was cold.
Ice seeped through torn clothing as spine melted, sloughing off burned skin.
Weeping eyes saw her, the other, take up a Jedi's weapon- facing the monster.
She was roaring.
Suddenly, plasteel doors opened.
Two humans entered the room.
One was male, dressed in blue uniformed kamas of a Fleet Director within the Galactic Alliance.
The other female- she was dressed in the garb of a Grand Director- entirely black with a white line traveling from the base of her breast to the hem of her trousers. Colored buttons adorned her sleeves, while a mechanical left eye whirred, focusing ahead.
"What is your name?" The woman asked.
Finn opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
What is my name?
He had one before.
Fintos?
That was it. Before Her. When he still fought under him. But she changed that.
"Finn," He said breathlessly, feeling the same level of liberation he did when Rey first christened him.
"You fought on Starkiller. You killed a being that you called a Ren, wielding powers similar to a Jedi. I understand you have these abilities as well."
Killed?
The third Ren.
I did kill him. I had to.
he was after Her.
Finn saw The Third Ren's face then, the surprise written over it as he crushed the man's chest within his own armor.
"The actions of you and your "Captain" Dameron lead to the destruction of Rhen Var."
The woman in black frowned.
"Our Alliance lost numerous personnel in the fallout. You and your allies-"
Finn stared ahead blankly as the woman's companion reached for her. The woman raised her hand, freezing the man in his tracks.
She then approached Finn, stepping closer to him and lowering herself to his level. He stared into her mechanical eye, entranced by the thousands of gears that swirled simultaneously to create a facsimile of a pupil.
"The actions of your ill equipped cabal cost us precious lives. What's worse, Rhen Var was destroyed before any information could be retrieved from Starkiller within it."
Finn's vision faded as her voice echoed.
"That means you're implicated. However, Chancellor Holdo has stated she may be lenient if you can tell us about the Ren."
REN.
Finn suddenly straightened as pain went shooting through his head.
doubling over, his mind scrambled as a thousand knives scrapped across the spiritual plane that resided within him.
Finn saw the visions, the visions they all saw- visions that lead them to Indüran Snoke.
Blood dripped from his nose, painting vermillion flowers on the white sheets that were wrapped around his legs.
"Finn?" The woman said.
He was no longer there. He could hear her, but he couldn't respond. He didn't dare to. Not yet. He wasn't entirely free yet.
"Maybe it was too soon." Another voice said as Finn lost consciousness.
"No. Holdo will be happy about this. Finn has done more today than he has in a year. Soon, he will be healthy enough to thoroughly use."
"To lure the girl."
Guilmetía laughed curtly as narrowed eyes watched Finn's blood rivet from a twitching nose.
"Precisely."
REY gasped as sweat dripped freely from her brow.
Muscles strained while fingers flexed, contorting in pain. Her mind was being pushed to its absolute limit while waves could be heard crashing against ancient stone.
"To be one with the Force means more than just being able to manipulate the world around you," Luke said as he circled her.
"You have to feel it, accept it. Ignore the binary principles of your own humanity, realize that you are no longer tethered to the physical plane. The Force is not binding- it is an escape. What binds you-"
"Is your consciousness, your state in the present." Rey finished between gritted teeth.
Luke circled her, but she did not see him.
Within her mind she was standing before the ethereal throne of the Force- a massive gate guarding an almost incomprehensible power.
"It took me years to free myself from my old understanding. Archaic teachings of the Jedi and Sith based around protection marching against conquest. One using the Force as a tool, the other, a set of restrictions. Naive rules created by children, desperate to understand." Luke said wistfully.
Rey gasped, opening eyes and falling to the stone floor.
She laid there on stone for what seemed like an aeon, gathering breath as Luke crouched beside.
"I couldn't get any closer," Rey rasped.
Luke offered her a small smile.
"You're improving. Thousands of Jedi lived and died without ever seeing what you have."
"True oneness with the Force." Rey said softly.
The learner steadily rose to her feet, brushing off dirt that clung to a dark blue tunic.
A lightsaber dangled bravely from a worn belt, and her hair was tied into a neat tail that bounced at the back of her neck.
Luke stared at Rey, and she returned his gaze until she laughed.
"What is it?" She said.
"You remind me so much of him." He said quietly.
Rey looked away, saying nothing. She knew, of course, who he was referring to.
Ben Skywalker, his son.
Murdered by Kylo Ren during the raid on Ossus.
Kylo.
She still remembered the heat from Anakin's blade.
The feeling of Kylo Ren bearing down on her.
Heavy blow after blow that sent her tumbling backward.
She remembered the sight of Finn's charred body- her anger was enough to drive Kylo off momentarily, but she gave into it.
The dark warrior took advantage of her unbalance and gained the upper hand. If it hadn't been for Holdo arriving, she and Finn would both be dead.
"Did you train Holdo?" Rey asked quietly, remembering how bravely Holdo fought off the Lord of the Ren.
Holdo wounded Kylo gravely. had Starkiller Base not threatened them all, the Chancellor would have finished the Ren. Rey wondered if Kylo even survived.
The sight of his young bloodied face, bordered by a mane of black hair, brought anger to her mind.
He killed his own father.
Han's friendly-but-smarmy grin broke against Rey's mind, freezing thought until her Master continued.
"I did train Holdo...but not like I trained Jacen." Luke said, using Kylo's birth name.
"Her power was immense. It.. was almost as if being around her was suffocating. It was inspiring but.." Rey trailed off, at a loss for words.
Luke nodded. "Holdo has much of the same strength you possess, but her pragmatism got in the way of her progress. You must realize that the strength you sense is not power- rather it is a corruption of it."
"I didn't sense the dark side in her." Rey said.
Luke grimaced.
"And that's the issue the Jedi had! They were dependent on that sense, needed it to guide them. They were blinder than the Kyurko fish I'm about to ask you to hunt." Luke said with a wolfish grin.
Rey scoffed.
"I'm beginning to think this 'training' is little more than a long running joke for an old crazed man. There's still no surefire proof you are Skywalker."
Rey walked to the doorway of their training chamber.
Luke laughed, but there was a sadness to it.
"I wish that's all I was." He said somberly.
His blue eyes twinkled, and a warm smile returned to his face.
"Now can you please go? I'd love to not eat bugs again tonight."
Rey rolled her eyes.
"And what will you do?" She asked, crossing arms.
Luke pulled his hood over his head as he turned away from her.
"Well, as your Master- the prophecy has now called upon me to gather milk."
She bounced between rocks, descending deeper into the caverns of Acht. The fish Luke loved, the Kyurko, were blind cave water dwellers. They naturally used the Force, but were a blight on Acht.
Their population had increased exponentially, and as they were predators, their aggression and natural instinct influenced the small island and its fragile spiritual ecosystem.
Rey repeated Luke's teachings as she speared Kyurko, placing them in a wicker basket that Luke was very proud of making.
"So you survived."
Rey's heart froze. The voice she heard echoed within her. She was silent, reaching for a waiting lightsaber as she dropped the spear to the cave floor.
"Your candor is surprisingly happy, girl. After wasting a year here, it seems you're content to hide from the galaxy, just like your Master."
It was him. But how? Rey brought up the defenses Luke had taught her, mental guards to protect oneself from attack. But nothing worked. It was something within her, a connection that couldn't be severed.
She waited, but she heard nothing more. Sighing heavily, she gathered her catch and called the spear back into her waiting palm. The cave seemed darker than when she had entered, and it seemed darker still outside. She wouldn't tell Luke about this- not yet. But after a year of training, she suddenly felt as if she still wasn't ready.
A BLUE SABER slashed across the air, held within a blackened hilt thrumming with ancient rage. The design of this weapon was inspired by the Jedi crusaders of old, warriors who danced the line of darkness in order to protect the Old Republic during the Sith Wars.
But now the Sith and the Jedi were dead.
Only the Ren survived.
Kylo continued his routine, powerful arms twirling his weapon around like a blurry cobalt shield.
Black hair fell over face and skin reddened with sweat, while the scar he carried across his nose down to his upper lip itched.
He didn't know how, but he had seen the girl. He could hear her, and she could hear him.
Enough.
He returned to his dance, a deadly macabre art of destruction.
You've only had that ability with one other.
Enough.
Ben.
He stopped, breathing heavily as his shoulders sagged.
One other.
Kylo's eyes opened in sudden rage. He thrust his arm outward, sending a pulsating wave of energy into the wall ahead of him. It cracked with sparking satisfaction, tearing away at metal wiring and plasteel engineering.
There was no point in wasting time wondering about the past. It was done now, gone forever. Those who he had abandoned would never return- and he had made sure of that. He allowed himself one moment to think of his father and even Ben-
then he chastised himself for his weakness.
Snoke had derided him for killing Solo- but Kylo knew he would never progress if he hadn't.
To gain power, one needed to remove all the emotional attachments they held. Kylo knew that if he had the strength to kill his father, he would have the strength to defeat It.
"Kylo Ren."
Snoke's voice immediately brought Kylo to armored knees. The boy shut his eyes and grimaced, knowing all too well it was useless to resist the enigmatic Lord.
"You felt it, didn't you?" Snoke spoke softly, barely above a whisper.
"Yes," Kylo's mind went back to the cave, back to her.
"It seems the living Force is making itself known again. All things have come to pass, and all things continue upon scattering realites, dreams conjured by mystics mad with power" Snoke seemed to laugh as his words filled Jacen's mind.
"What would you have us do?" Kylo asked.
Snoke's voice loomed like a dark monolith, rumbling in its dictation.
"The Galactic Alliance will be pushing their own offensive. Even after declaring ourselves a separate government from the First Order, it seems Chancellor Holdo is pursuing war, still taking advantage of the fear borne from Starkiller."
"Chancellor Holdo has gotten stronger since the last time we fought." Kylo admitted. He felt the scar that she had burned across his face as her violent green pupils glowed in a grim mind's eye.
"Holdo, as she is now, is far more powerful than you. It would take nearly all of the Knights to defeat her, and even then, it may not be enough. That is why I am sending you to Crait."
Kylo furrowed his brow.
"Crait? A neutral system." He replied.
"On Crait you will find another relic. A factory, not dissimilar to your old home on Ossus."
Kylo's eyes widened. If they could successfully activate another Forge..
"It will be done, my Lord." Kylo said within himself. He could feel Snoke's approval washing over him.
"I will need two Ren. Two that will replace the one I lost..." Kylo trailed off as thoughts drifted to Fintos.
Kylo had tried his best to train him, and in a wayward way, he had begun to view the younger boy as a brother. But now...
"I have already sent Sendrik. He will be accompanied by Vivike. The two of them shall prove to be more than capable."
"Sendrik doesn't respect me. Vivike will no doubt be the same." Kylo countered.
"Then consider this an additional test, Kylo. You had said to yourself that killing your father was a practice of power- now you must use it."
Kylo felt Snoke's presence leave him then.
He stood alone in the darkened room, ruminating about thoughts that were better left unheard, even by his own heart.