Destroy, Everything

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As the tip of the sun was about to slip below the purple mountains stretching in layered curves along the horizon, the lake caught its setting light, and glittering streaks of mauve and orange squirmed across the black surface with the undulations of the waves like worms of celestial fire. Across the lake, a silhouette of an ancient civilization pinpricked the distance, clinging to the sun's remaining rays.

How appropriate the resistance chose such a place to hide.

"Push forward," Kylo called to the ship commander, earning another one of Hux's silent glares. Had he not be given the Force, Kylo was sure Hux would have tried to kill him by now. The general's eyes gleamed with jealousy and greed, revenge and lust for power. He suspected Hux knew the truth about Snoke's death— how he had been the cause— but the general didn't push with questions, so Ren didn't need to search for answers.

The First Order fleet began their journey across the lake, wrapping it in a shadowed blanket as they crossed from overhead. The crumbling resistance village, only illuminated by a fraction of the sun, darkened as they neared. Finally, after months of tracking and paying dues to spies, the master of the Knights of Ren had discovered the location of the enemy.

When their ships began to tip back towards the surface of land, Kylo closed his eyes. Though the old village appeared deserted and forlorn, he could feel life beyond the crumbling pillars and rundown homesteads. He followed the Force, twisting down tunnels and hidden passageways until... he saw her. Rey, huddled quietly with the remaining rebels in a damp cavern, a finger pressed to her lips in warning. As he stared, Rey squirmed uneasily. Then, she saw him, too. He opened his eyes.

"They're underground," he said quickly, pointing through the windshield to a hump of land. "Lower my ship and disengage my troops there."

"Supreme Leader," Hux interjected sternly. "Perhaps it's best that the other Knights of Ren go ahead of you. For your own safety. Let them clear the danger—"

"And win my fight? No," Ren cut Hux off with a wave of his hand.

The general flinched, expecting to be thrown across the computers in a rage all to familiar with Kylo Ren's persona. Instead, the Supreme Leader continued calmly, "No. I will lead. The Knights will follow." Hux didn't dare argue further.

The command shuttle tipped further, touched the grassy hill, and slid to a halt. Behind, a few yards down, the six other black transports carrying the Knights of Ren followed. The ramp lowered, and Kylo instinctively touched the Lightsaber's handle stowed on his belt. He hadn't used the weapon since his last fight with Luke on Crait; the newly inducted Supreme Leader had an entire army at his hip and little reason to do any fighting of his own. Carefully anticipating, Kylo stepped down the ramp. The four Stormtrooper escorts moved to follow him outside, but he stopped them.

"Change of plans," he said quietly, his eyes darting around the vast, empty landscape. Through the mist of a broken dusk, Kylo felt her. She was coming. "Don't allow anyone else to out of their ships. I want to face this Jedi. Alone." He didn't pay any mind to Hux's angry sigh.

His boots crunched over dead foliage intermixed between the strands of winter grass. Autumn's season was being blown away by the breath of winter, and Kylo knew it would be a cold night.

In a haze, he followed an unmarked trail further into the mist of the planet, directing his attention to the white washed stone of the once civilization. The carved stone walls poked from the surface unnaturally without pattern, a dangerous white line against a shadowed backdrop. His gloved hand went up to touch one of the pillars.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Kylo turned, grabbing his saber. A faraway look danced in Rey's eyes who had come up a few feet behind him.

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