CHAPTER THREE
The Supremacy, somewhere in the galaxy
“You seem unsettled, young one.”
Kylo Ren stiffened, squaring his shoulders as he stared at the boy sitting on the opposite side of the red ray shield. The child known as Kalon Sendor sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell, staring at the Knight of Ren with bloodshot eyes. He couldn’t be older than five and yet those eyes carried with them a sense of wisdom that could only be accomplished by someone who had lived hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. The voice Kalon spoke with was also no voice of a child but rather of a man who sounded as old as the stars themselves.
The two of them were alone in the cell block, the guards having been dismissed by Kylo himself. The Supreme Leader, as far as he knew, had no idea that he was down here, preoccupied with the First Order’s gradual occupation of the Outer Rim as well as the two captive Skywalkers located elsewhere on the Supremacy.
“Something is troubling you,” Darth Vorath said. “Is there something on your mind?”
Kylo Ren stared back at the boy serving as the ancient Sith Lord’s spirit, struggling over whether or not to respond. Darth Vorath’s return from the dead had come out of nowhere, occurring just as Kylo had been poised to kill the Dark Lord’s own flesh and blood, thus bringing an end to the legacy of Vorath and his Sith Order. Whether or not Vorath’s return was a result of Kylo’s mission in eliminating the last of his Sith Order, the Knight of Ren was not so sure. He also was not sure if the Supreme Leader had even foreseen this; from his brief interaction with Snoke after being retrieved from Damosus, Kylo had gotten the impression that his master was as surprised as he was by this phenomenon, though he could not help but wonder if Snoke knew more than he was letting on.
“I’m sure he does.” Vorath’s voice broke him from his thoughts. “But I assure you that my rebirth was not planned for by your master.”
Kylo’s head snapped up and the boy grinned.
“Oh, yes. I can read your thoughts. Not really a difficult task when you wear your emotions on your sleeve.”
Kylo’s gloves crinkled as he balled his hands into fists. At this point, there was no sense in continuing to bottle the questions swirling in his mind. This was most likely his only shot at getting the answers he desired. It was now or never.
“What were your plans for me?” he asked, his voice sounding hoarse even through the modulator of his mask.
The boy grinned broadly at him. “Surely it should be obvious. I wanted a Skywalker under my control. Lord Nemesis was powerful in his own right, but due to his nature as a clone, he lacked the raw strength of his template. You, on the other hand, as a direct blood descendant of Anakin Skywalker, were sure to have that power.”
“But why me? Why not my mother or my uncle. Surely they would have been just as strong if not more so.”
Vorath chuckled. “How could I have corrupted someone like Luke Skywalker after Darth Sidious had already failed to? Even my attempt to turn him via the Emperor’s clone proved to be… a wasted effort.”
Kylo did not know to what the Sith Lord was referring to. He was trying to wrap his head around what he had learned from Vorath back on Damosus; things that Snoke had refused to confirm or deny when the Supreme Leader had retrieved him and the Sith Lord and the Skywalkers.
“You rose to power after Sidious—after the Emperor perished,” he then said, altering the track of the conversation. “How long had you been waiting?”
This question was enough to give Vorath pause. The boy’s grin vanished and his expression became a blank slate.
“I had been waiting for a very long time,” the ancient Dark Lord said quietly. “Thousands of years, in fact. Many of them were spent in suspended animation, watched over by loyal followers. As soon as I sensed that Sidious and his apprentice had perished, I emerged from my slumber and immediately began making preparations for my ascension.”
“And Sidious never sensed you?”
Again, a pause. “If he had, I’m sure he would have done everything in his power to rid himself of me.” Although Vorath tried to hide it, Kylo could detect the slightest hint of uncertainty in the Dark Lord’s voice. Perhaps Vorath didn’t know for sure whether or not Palpatine had ever sensed the ancient Sith when he was alive, and if he had why he had done nothing to address Vorath’s presence.
No doubt reading Kylo’s thoughts, Vorath spoke up again. “The matter is irrelevant. Sidious is dead and therefore no longer an obstacle. In time, I shall reclaim the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith and finally finish what I had set out to do so long ago.”
“You don’t think the Supreme Leader will try and stop you?” Kylo asked.
The boy tilted his head. “Is the Supreme Leader a Sith?”
“No. Or rather, he doesn’t proclaim to be.”
“Then he doesn’t have much reason to stand in my way, does he?”
Kylo shifted on his feet. “Well, he has you imprisoned. If he did not perceive you to be a threat, then I am sure he would have let you go free.”
“Would he?” The grin returned to the boy’s face. “I can’t say I share your assessment of him. Then again, maybe he has changed in the twenty years since I’ve last spoken with him. I haven’t had the pleasure of speaking with him one-on-one yet.”
“And when you do… what then? What exactly is your plan?”
Vorath let out a sharp, short laugh. “As if I would tell you. As soon as you leave, you’ll run blabbing to your master and he’ll know how to get rid of me. No, I’d prefer to keep him on his toes; make him wonder if perhaps I could be of use to him.”
“Or he to you,” Kylo muttered.
“Ah, catching on already. Good. Perhaps I was not wrong to choose you.”
Kylo stepped closer to the ray shield, anger suddenly pumping through his veins like adrenaline. “Listen closely,” he growled. “I will not be your pawn. I have already done so much to undo the legacy of the Sith. I will not partake in their rebirth, or whatever it is you have planned for them.”
“I don’t believe I asked,” Vorath replied. “I was merely making an observation.”
“An observation that was not asked for,” Kylo snarled. “Whatever your intentions for me were, they are now moot. My allegiance is to the dark side and to the First Order, not to you. Never to you.”
“What about Snoke? Is your allegiance to him?”
Kylo opened his mouth to speak but was unable to muster a response. All that came out was a frustrated growl as he turned on his heel and began to storm away from the cell. He was halfway down when Vorath’s voice followed after him.
“You have much potential, young Solo. Do not let it go to waste.”
Kylo Ren nearly paused in his step but he forced himself to press. He refused to stop for even a moment, lest he allow the Sith Lord’s words to sink in.
* * *
“Our scouts have returned from their survey of the Mandalore sector,” reported the holographic figure of General Pryde, standing alongside the other members of the Supreme Council that were gathered before the audience of the Supreme Leader. “The Mandalorians have already begun fortifying their most vulnerable and most strategically valuable systems, including Mandalore itself. It is clear that the Mandalorians will not be siding with the First Order in its affairs and will resist any attempt we make to seize their sector.”
“That is to be expected,” said General Quinn before anyone else had a chance to speak, ever the bold one. “The Battle of Mandalore last year solidified their allegiance to the Resistance, however loose it may be. We won’t be able to bring them to our side the same way Darth Taral did.”
“Taral was a useful distraction, nothing more,” said Supreme Leader Snoke, his voice instantly commandeering the gathered generals’ attention. “Whether the Mandalorians stand with or against us is irrelevant to our overall goals. If they stand in our way, they will be dealt with accordingly.”
“What about the other sectors surrounding Mandalore?” asked General Hux. “Meerian, Belsmuth, and Demetras… if necessary, I will gladly lend my own ships to—”
“That won’t be necessary,” General Pryde said sharply, glaring at Hux. “Your place is in Dominus and its surrounding sectors. I can easily handle Ojoster’s neighboring sectors.”
“Surely I will be the judge of that?” Snoke said wryly.
Pryde’s attention snapped back to him and he bowed his head, mildly chastened. “So long as it is your will, Supreme Leader.”
Snoke waved a dismissive hand. “Regardless, you make an excellent point. You shall all stay in your designated sectors and move your fleets to the neighboring regions. General Pryde, I will entrust you with the subjugation of the remaining sectors bordering Mandalorian space. We will box them in and prevent them from reaching out to their Resistance friends.”
“So it shall be done,” Pryde murmured.
“Hux, you will direct your forces to the Shadola and Jubilar sectors,” Snoke went on.
“What about the Ash Worlds?” Hux piped up. “Surely New Alderaan would be a strategic loss to both the Alliance and the Resistance.”
Snoke narrowed his eyes at him. “After your display at Mon Cala, I am not so sure I want to entrust such a daunting task to you.”
A look of mortification fell upon the red-haired general’s face but he did not argue against the Supreme Leader’s statement.
After assigning the remaining commanders to their roles and locations, Snoke leaned back in his throne to appraise the six members of his Council. The future of the First Order and its success rested on their shoulders. Their accomplishments—or lack thereof—were going to be what made or broke the empire he had envisioned.
The Force preserve them all.
“I have nothing further to say to you,” Snoke rumbled. “You are all dismissed.”
One by one, the six holograms dissipated into thin air. At that moment, the doors to the turbolift swished open and the masked form of Kylo Ren stepped out into the throne room.
“Ah, welcome, my apprentice,” Snoke greeted him with a grin. “How did your little talk with Lord Vorath go?”
For his part, Kylo Ren barely paused in his stride. He crossed the distance between the turbolift and his master’s throne before dropping down onto one knee, bowing his head.
“You summoned me, master.”
“You did not answer my question,” Snoke said pointedly. “What did you garner from your conversation with Darth Vorath?”
Kylo hesitated before responding. “Not much, I am afraid. It was merely a repeat of what he told me back on Damosus.”
Snoke could sense that his apprentice was withholding something from him, but he decided not to press the matter. Not yet. The situation regarding Vorath was intriguing enough in his eyes that he was willing to let it play out rather than to intervene, if only to see how his apprentice handled it on his own. Besides, there were other matters to attend to.
“That’s a pity,” he said instead. “Perhaps later on, our Dark Lord friend will be more willing to… open up.” He then rose from his throne, extending to his full height and towering over his kneeling apprentice. “I understand that you have a lot of questions on your mind; about what Vorath said to you on Damosus.”
Kylo Ren lifted his head up to look at him. “Was any of what he said true?” Even with the modulator of his mask, Snoke could hear the despair in his voice.
“I was not there,” Snoke replied. “What did he say to you?”
“That he was the one who brought me to you. That he intended to make me a Sith. You told me that those people who took me worked for you.”
“They did. They served me as well as Vorath. I never lied to you about that.”
“But you never mentioned Vorath. You even raised me to ignore the teachings of the Sith. Yet I was supposed to be one?”
“I had no desire to train you as a Sith,” Snoke rumbled. “I was only to be your caretaker until Vorath was ready to begin training you. But after he and his little Sith Empire fell, I was left with no choice but to raise you as my own. And so I did.”
“Does his presence here change anything?”
“Not at all. I have already invested too much time into you, and into the First Order, to go back on things now. I will deal with Vorath as seen fit, but he will pose no threat to my plans.” Snoke paused to look at Kylo, silently studying his apprentice’s mind for his emotions. He had to give his student credit, for he was unable to garner much with a cursory scan. He would doubtlessly would have found more if he prodded harder, but he couldn’t help but be impressed by how more closely guarded Kylo’s feelings were.
Of course, that was going to change rather quickly.
“As for you,” he continued, “I have one last trial for you to face. A trial that will determine your future as my apprentice and as Master of the Knights of Ren.”
“I am ready, master,” Kylo Ren replied. “I will not fail you.”
Snoke smirked. “You don’t even know what it is yet.”
“Whatever it is, I will surely—”
“Don’t,” Snoke sharply cut him off, raising a bony finger. “I have heard it all before. For once, my apprentice, I want your actions to speak for you, rather than your empty words.”
Kylo bowed his head. “Forgive me, master.”
Snoke dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. “Your trial begins on Mustafar, in the ruins of the fortress that once belonged to your grandfather.”
“And?”
“And nothing.” Snoke turned his back to the Knight of Ren and stepped back to his throne. “These are my last instructions to you. Anything else you will need, you will find on Mustafar. The next time we speak, you will have either graduated from my apprenticeship… or you will be dead.”
He allowed himself a private grin as he sensed a sharp pang of emotion from his student. Ah, there it was.
As Snoke sat back down in his throne, Kylo Ren rose to his feet. A moment of silence passed between them as they stared at each other. Snoke could sense that Kylo wanted to speak, to have the final word in the conversation. But whether it was because he couldn’t get the words out or because he decided it was not worth it, the Knight of Ren instead simply turned and strode back down to the turbolift. The doors opened to accept him and closed as soon as he was through, leaving the Supreme Leader alone to his own thoughts.
He knew that the next time he saw that ridiculous mask, the man wearing it would not be the same one that had just left. It would either be a new man, changed for the better… or a dead one.
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