Chapter Text
Above a desert planet's atmosphere, a ship soared to the surface of the planet from deep space. It roared as they flew, a deep screeching that echoed it's hostile and dark appearance. The ship approached a city, one that was very populated and bustling. A pearly white castle stood proud at the center of the city. The ship swooped as it aimed for one of the many landing pads. It was empty, except for a few royal guards stationed there and an older man in clad uniform with more guards in escort. As the ship engaged its landing struts and landed on the pad, its screeches came to a lull. The hangar doors unlocked with a hiss and a platform lowered. There stood a tall, dark figure, dressed in black robes and a menacing mask underneath a hood. In tow, two soldiers in sickly white armor stood with blasters in hand beside the figure. It strode forward with a quickened and heavy pace that the soldiers followed.
The older man on the pad spoke, "Ah, Kylo Ren, such an honor for you to visit my humble planet." He opened his arms as a welcoming gesture. The figure, Kylo Ren, came to a stop just before the man, his footfalls were heavy even when he stopped.
When he spoke, his voice was deep, distorted due to his mask, and was easily felt in the chest, "Senator, you were asked to come to this meeting alone." His tone was unfriendly and dripped with menace referring to the guards.
The older man felt the iciness lick at his heart. "Yes, well, I hope you can acknowledge that you have yet to gain my full trust. No matter though, I'm sure we can build upon this after the exchange." A faint scowl bit at this lip, fighting to not falter under Kylo's presence.
"Do you have the boy in your custody?" Kylo Ren ignored the senator.
"Yes, do you have the credits?"
Kylo Ren pointed his chin curtly to one of his soldiers. They stepped forward with a case in hand, "Then follow me."
The Senator led Kylo Ren into the castle. His dark cloaked figure and his ghostly white storm troopers were stark in contrast to the pale brown and white sloping walls. It was silent except for their footsteps and the hushed whispers of the spectating servants. The environment felt heavy, not because of the planet's atmosphere, but because of the mere presence of Kylo Ren. The man could feel a shiver crawl down his back when he became aware of Kylo staring him down as he followed him. They arrived to long and tall doors, assumedly which the force sensitive child was waiting behind. Kylo felt a quiver from the Senator when they approached the doors.
"He's just in there." Two servants responded by scurrying to open the door.
"Are you sure... Senator?" Suspicion voiced from Kylo.
The Senator scoffed, "You think I'd be foolish enough to try and toy with your patience?"
As the doors creaked open, Kylo stepped forward into the room. It looked to be a conference room, still and quiet. And no boy was in sight.
"I apologize for this Ren," Kylo whipped around to glare at the Senator, who raised a blaster pistol to him, "But Resistance chatter has told me you're quite the valuable target. I'm sure the Resistance would pay handsomely for your execution. Maybe even the New Republic."
The stormtroopers raised their weapons to the Senator and his guards. They wielded spears that were ignited, a string of electricity along the edge of their blades that buzzed to life. Kylo's hand hovered his lightsaber on his belt, his fingers tingling to wield it. As he studied the men in front of him, waiting for the slightest movement to release his rage on them, he sensed the movement of multiple bodies in the room hidden from his sight. He turned his head slowly, realizing the bodies he detected were soldiers wielding assortments of guns and weapons coming from behind the pillars that decorated the walls of the room. All of their weapons were pointed at him.
"I'll leave you to my soldiers then." The Senator said before stepping away to let his servants shut the doors.
When he was out of sight, Kylo turned to face the soldiers, rage starting to emanate from him.
"Sir?" One of the stormtroopers looked to Kylo, waiting for orders as the soldiers closed in on them.
"Kill them all."
With a swing, Kylo ignited his saber that crackled and roared to life. One of the soldiers screamed and order to fire, but he easily deflected and blocked their bullets as he stomped forward. The troopers dived to duck behind the table for cover and returned fire, blasting the soldiers. Kylo struck down the soldiers in front of him with ease, his lightsaber cutting through their bodies like paper. They screamed as he closed the gap between them, he could feel the terror and panic in them as it fueled him. He pulled two of them forward with the reach of his hand and with a heavy stoke, he slashed them down. Their shrill screams echoing in the room. More soldiers stepped forward in unison, wielding the same spears as the guards earlier. They pointed the tip of their spears at Kylo, ready to attack. Kylo gave a taunting twirl of his lightsaber, basically saying 'come and get me'.
They charged forward, surrounding him and keeping him at bay with their spears. He sparred with one and cut him down easily. As he sensed one coming up behind him to take advantage of his exposed back, he spun on his heel and used the Force to send them flying into the wall. A crack and thud was heard from the impact and their body fell to the floor, unmoving. A third came charging, Kylo blocked his attack and sliced their spear with a swing of his lightsaber. The soldier looked in fear as they were left defenseless. Kylo spared no mercy, as he charged forward and plunged his saber into the soldier's chest. The soldier gave a sputtering scream. He twisted the hilt of his saber and wrenched it out of their body, it hitting the floor. He merely huffed as he looked at the body. He stepped away, seeing his troopers had dispatched the rest of the soldiers. They began to follow Kylo as he made his way out of the room. over the slaughtered bodies that decorated the floor. No one was left.
With the rage in him already coming to a fiery boil, he lifted a hand and violently blasted the doors off its hinges and into the hall they were previously in. The Senator who was waiting cowered in fear as the doors flew past him.
"What!? Get him!" The Senator ordered his guards.
They took only a few steps before Kylo lifted a curled hand. The guards were suspended in the air. Kylo turned his hand and slowly closed it into a fist, choking the guards until their gagging stopped and their bodies hit the floor. The Senator yelped and fell onto his knees like a coward, knowing what was coming,
"R-Ren, please. Please don't do this. It was a mistake! I'll do anything-I'll pledge our allegiance to the First Order! I was a fool!" Kylo and the troopers watched as the Senator babbled and pleaded at his feet. He felt no mercy, no empathy for this man. He gripped his lightsaber tightly.
"Yes, you are a fool." He reared his lightsaber behind his head and swung it down on the Senator's. His head rolling onto the floor with a thud. His lightsaber hissed as it was retracted. Without an acknowledgement of the body, he dismissively stepped over it.
Kylo and the troopers were leaving the castle, as they approached their ship on the landing pad, one of the trooper's comm gave a beep. "Sir, General Hux is calling in." They said holding a holoprojector device to Kylo.
He stopped, "Put him through." He turned to face his trooper. He rolled his shoulders back and fixed his posture. He knew the general wasn't going to like the news. The stormtrooper held the holoprojector out as the projection of General Hux was cast with a whirr. A ginger man appeared, his hair slicked to his head and combed to perfection. He stood in a black uniform with professionalism and an upturned chin.
"Kylo Ren, what's the progress on the retrieval?" He asked. "The Senator lied about the child, there was no child." Kylo stated coldly.
"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that," Hux said disinterested, "Did you at least establish a partnership between the First Order and the Senator? It is paramount we extend our forces to more worlds."
There was a pause. Hux raised a brow.
"No, the Senator attempted to execute me, so I killed him and his men."
"You did WHAT!?" Hux's voice climbed to a shout at each word, "His people will make an enemy of the First Order! This is the opposite what we needed!"
Kylo Ren learned to tune out General Hux's pestering voice over the past few years in the First Order. Just as he was zoning out from he suddenly felt a pull to his mind. It was now quiet. He focused on this sensation he was being called to. It was a presence.
He looked to where he could feel it pulling at him, but found no one. He had never experienced this kind of pull by the Force before and was completely mystified by it. Even though it was faint, it was enduring.
"Kylo Ren? Kylo!?" Hux yelled to gain his attention. He broke him from his daze.
"General, I will return to base after I investigate this... presence." He looked to the trooper behind the holoprojector and motioned with his chin to end the connection.
"Don't ignore me! What are you talking about? Don't you dare-!"
The feed was cut.
The trooper placed the holoprojector back in a pocket on it's belt, "Sir, excuse me for asking, but what do you mean by a presence?"
"A disturbance in the Force. Someone on this planet is indeed strong with it. Quick, before I lose it." Kylo turned quickly to board the ship. His troopers followed and prepared it to depart.
As their ship left the landing pad, Kylo ordered the troopers where to go, as he was feeling through the Force which direction the presence was emanating from. They found themselves in a low rural area of the city. The slums would be more accurate to describe it. Black smoke and hazy lights decorated the buildings' rooftops. The streets were bustling with merchants and shoppers, the speed of pedestrian traffic always at a go.
"Land there." He ordered his troopers, pointing to a small shipyard near the bustling streets.
The ship slowly descended into one of larger circular landing bays. With a low thud and a rumble from the ship’s hull, they landed with ease. The troopers were about to stand from their piloting seats, but Kylo stopped them with a hand.
"Wait here, I will handle this alone."