The New Empire

Chapter 6 - Hardly A Plan

"Ben, you're going to get us killed." Rey was complaining about their plan, that they've been discussing for weeks.

"Oh, have some faith!" Ben answered resentfully.

"Okay, okay calm down guys." Liv was the most collected of them. "Ben tell us again calmly and slowly, what you exactly want to do."

"It's simple. Rey, from the inside will somehow manage to get a meeting, saying they have something important to discuss. Then we'll walk in, gaining the attention, and with the notes we have already written announce the New Empire."

"So you just simply want to walk in?" Liv was troubled, but she knew that she can't loose her mind now. "I hope you realized that every person in the Resistance will try to kill you."

"Yes. Exactly." But Ben was unstoppable. Once he decided something, he didn't let go of it.

"And you don't even want to tell about this to Leia?" Liv thought that at least he'll inform his mother about the plans.

"No. We need the power of surprise."

"It's going to be a shock or trauma, but not a surprise." Liv hissed with blaming.

"Shock or surprise, same thing." Ben seemed like he was starting to get bored, and he didn't mind showing it.

"Okay, let's assume that we'll walk in. How do you want to protect yourself?" She was afraid that Ben will use his lightsaber.

"Well of course, I don't want to use my saber, but it depends on your friends." He said friends so sarcastically that it was imaginable that Rey will try to choke him. "I think I can evade myself from the blasters, if there's too many I can stop them with the Force."

"That may work." Rey hummed.

"Sorry Rey, would you give us a minute?" Liv asked, pulling Ben out of the spaceship while awkwardly smiling at Rey.

It annoyed Ben that his little sister just grabbed, and literally tossed him out of the ship.

"So," Liv began with crossed eyebrows and a spiking look. "why don't you want to face Mother?"

"Why do you think that?" Ben asked, like he had no idea what she meant, even though he knew that Liv was somewhere right.

"Oh, Ben," Liv's face softened, as she switched into a calm and understanding sister. "you should know, that she has already forgiven you. There is nothing to be afraid of."
A sad smile appeared on her face.

"Listen, I know, but" He didn't dare to look into her eyes. "it's going to be my entrance." He has always been stubborn.

"Okay, it's your choice, but I hope you know, that you can't run away forever." She just couldn't be angry at him.

"Come on, let's go back." Ben recommended after a moment of silence.

"There's something I want to tell you." He started in the ship. "I think you two have the right to know it. Especially if you really want to collaborate with the First Order." He was noticeably nervous.

"But we have already decided." Rey didn't understand this. "We are going to unite."

"Maybe you would like to rethink that, after my confession." He said that with a so cold and unemotional voice, that it froze Rey.

"What do you mean? A confession?" Liv wasn't frightened anymore. She learned that Ben is still young and not that scary.

"I'm going to tell you my life story. And yes, you may be sure that you know it, but you don't." He paused and stared at Liv. "Not even you." He collected his thoughts and cleaned his mind. He hoped he was ready. "That night at the Temple was different than you think. The original plan was that me and a handful of other students would leave, vanishing into the night. I was the one who's work was to open the gates and let Snoke's men in. But there were too many ships for no reason. I wondered what they are for, but I soon found out. Both the men and my 'friends' started to cut down those innocent children, like butchers. I didn't want to kill, but I had to fit in, if I didn't want to join the unlucky ones. I didn't want Snoke or anybody to notice. I was surprisingly good at killing, I always did it efficiently and quickly, because it ended faster that way. I knew that after what I've done I couldn't go back to Mother. My only place was the First Order. So I stayed and tried to fit in. I knew I had to pretend to be like them, but it was hard." He paused to take a deep breath and noticed that Rey's and Liv's eyes were wet, but he didn't stop. "I thought my training would soon began, but I was a disappointment. Snoke told me that he won't waste his time on someone so weak and pathetic as me. The following months were the worst, they locked me into my cabin and left me alone. I didn't meet any human beings for... I don't even know if it were weeks or months, I lost my sense of time. So I only saw the droids who brought me food. I wasn't sure why he did it, but after some time I understood. He was right, I was weak and unviable. It was a relief when they released me, but the real challenge only came after that. Snoke said he'll train me if I prove him, that I'm worth the effort. They led in a little boy. He was captured in the destroying of the Temple, and now he thought I'm going to save him, that I will defeat the bad guys and take him home. There was hope in his eyes. Snoke gave me a lightsaber and ordered me to kill him. He said If I couldn't do it, I'm not worth his attention. But I had no choice. My only excuse is that I always did it fast and painlessly. So my training began. It was the usual Sith training routine, everybody did well." He looked down at his shoes in embarrassment. "Except me. Yes, I was the hopeless one, always the last. My true powers only showed when it wasn't me anymore. When I stopped fighting and became Kylo Ren, The Master of the Knights of Ren drunk in the Dark Side." He finally looked up with regret. "You know the rest. Snoke began to trust and stopped beating me. In the end I became his right hand, his most loyal executor."