Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 20: Darkness

He waited a moment as the larger fragments of debris passed by before leaping out of the ship into the hot air. With outstretched arms and all of his concentration, Ren concentrated on pushing the planet surface away from him with the force as it rapidly approached, hoping to slow himself enough to not be injured. Exhaling before impact, the speed of his descent drove him down to one knee in the sand and his presence was announced by the wave that crested forward as a dust cloud. Ren's vision cleared while the ship continued on, taking the winds with it. He looked up to see it closely followed by the black vessel across the horizon.

Palpatine appeared pleased; the all too familiar sneer Hux often displayed was somehow more unnerving than usual.

Kylo Ren drew his blade, igniting it as he aimed it at the emperor; his confidence had increased since effectively halving Snoke in the throne room months before.

"Kylo Ren," Palpatine remarked as he laughed to himself, "Or should I say, Ben Solo? That mighty Skwalker blood does run strong in you."

"Where is the girl?" Ren abruptly demanded. A sliver of uncertainty arrested his spirit knowing how powerful the master of Darth Vader had been. Darth Sidious had infiltrated the Senate and changed the course of history all due to his ability to sway with words.

"Young Rey is completing her training as a Jedi" he answered knowingly.

Ren marched forward with his blade. "Tell me where she is, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Palpatine interjected, raising a red eyebrow. "Cut me down? Rid the galaxy of me? My dear boy...your grandfather Anakin was a powerful apprentice whose reputation preceded him. Your potential is limited by your lack of commitment."

A question nagged at Ren's mind. "Why did you need Hux?"

Palpatine lifted his chin. "He's merely a stepping stone - a temporary lift for the time being."

"How did you do it? Darth Plageuis only discovered how to take over the body of his apprentice...someone who could use the force."

The emperor appeared almost bored by his question. "A rather lengthy process for this low quality substitution" he answered as he looked off into the distance. "A slow blood transfusion from my aging body into Hux's was necessary to build up the midichlorian count for the time being in order to transfer consciousness."

Ren concentrated on the details of the process, burning the words into his mind. 

Palpatine reached up to his neck, marred and disfigured by the thick, ropy blue veins, and flicked open the neat clasp at his collar to release his cloak to the ground. His body appeared to be covered in a skin-tight metallic black suit that reminded Ren of the swimming costumes they wore on his homeworld of Chandrila. It accentuated every tensed muscle on his body. Unclipping a hilt from his belt, Palpatine ignited a simple blade, the amber glow increasing the intensity of Hux's red hair.

Ren buried his fear as the thrill of the fight awakened in him; he propelled himself toward his opponent, switching the hand grip on the cross guard hilt at the last moment. Making a back-handed swipe as he approached, Palpatine bent backward with a full spinal flexion to avoid the tip of Ren's blade.

Palpatine calmly put distance between them, as Kylo stepped back into a lunge with his lightsaber pointing accusingly. "As enthralling as it could be to continue this, I actually prefer you to be in one piece. I need this body to last me just a little longer."

Ren sprinted towards him once again, but the emperor disengaged his lightsaber and raised both his hands up from his hips, outstretched toward the sky. Ren's feet left the sand and his legs exerted no force against the air as the emperor shrunk beneath him. He watched helplessly as Palpatine's hands wrenched downward, and his stomach flipped when he reversed direction, accelerating with gravity towards the ground. Slamming into the sand with full force, the breath was knocked out of him, and his entire right side felt bruised to the bone. He began to stand as he wheezed but was pummelled by spheres of sand that rose up from the ground, hurling towards him in tandem with Palpatine's arm movements.