Rise of the Order: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 17: Questions

"Where's the First Order?"

"Excellent question," Luke mused, staring at the mining planet in intrigue. "Well, let's go find out, shall we?"

With that, he steered his ship down towards the planet, Poe in tow.

~~~~~~~~

Onboard the Finalizer, Kylo Ren slept restlessly, which wasn't uncommon for him. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had a night's sleep without nightmares. And although he couldn't understand why, this nightmare was different. 

There was laughter. Snoke's laughter. And he was once again on that dreaded skywalk on Starkiller base. He walked across, wearily. 

"Ben," came a familiar voice from behind him.

Ren stiffened. A pit formed in his stomach. It took everything in him to turn, his eyes landing on his father. 

Han Solo stood a couple feet away, his usually rough face soft. Looking every bit as Ren last remembered him that day.

"Go away," Ren grumbled. He took a few steps back.

"Ben--"

"That's not my name!" Ren exclaimed, his voice echoing in the room.

"Then who are you?" came another voice.

Ren turned to see the Jedi padawan. She wasn't wearing the gear he last saw her in, rather a simple purplish poncho over capris. And despite the hatred Ren felt at seeing her, she mirrored no such emotion. If anything, with her knitted eyebrows, she looked confused. And like she genuinely cared about the question. 

"And who am I?" she asked.

The question threw Ren off and he took a step back towards Han Solo's direction. 

"Perhaps we're not so different after all. Perhaps we shouldn't be enemies to start with," she said, her voice sounding far away. 

The words echoed in his head, ringing so loudly he brought his hands to his temples. Ren gasped as the throbbing worsened. The surprise of the pain was then followed by the nerve-chilling sound of the skywalk groaning. As if the metal skywalk was suddenly being crushed into two, ripped from it's seams. 

Before Ren could make out what was happening, the skywalk collapsed and he was falling. His fall into the dark abyss below was quickly replaced with light. The fall should've been farther, but he was soon on his back, groaning from his landing. He stood, coughing. In fact, he literally felt like he couldn't breathe from the smoke in the air. 

His eyes darted around. There was fire everywhere it seemed. Engulfing his surroundings like a pack of animals devouring its prey. But, standing weakly ahead of him, was a girl. Tears coated her light blue skin. With all the fire, she was completely trapped. 

Then from seemingly out of nowhere, a woman came running. This one much older and human. Ren had never seen her before, but recognized her presence. He had no time to think about it properly though as she grabbed hold of the child. 

Glancing back, her wild eyes landed on Ren. "Who are you?" she shouted above the fire. 

Ren just shook his head, not knowing what to say.  Lost, he turned. In a blink it seems, his surroundings changed. No longer was he choking on smoke, but rather he was underground, in some large cave. In front of him stood a First Order mine, troopers and robots moving to and fro.

As he stepped closer, another being took their place next to him. Ren whirled in anger at the all-too familiar presence of Master Skywalker. The Jedi Master didn't seem to notice him though, and just stared at the foreboding First Order banners. 

"What are they doing?" he grimly questioned. 

The dream was ripped from Ren then and he bolted awake. Sweat ran down his forehead, and he was very aware of his chest heaving for air. He took a few minutes to breathe. His mind swirling with the images of his dream. 

It was some time before he reached for the comm beside his bed. 

"Yes, Lord Ren?" chimed Monk.

"Is there a mining planet that is supplying us for the disease?" Ren asked. Rather calmly too, which was quite unlike him. 

"Brion, my Lord."

"Send Armory there. I sense that they will be receiving company." 

"Yes, my Lord," Monk said. "Also, I should inform you that Rogue has spotted the Jedi padawan and her companions on Gala. He is keeping a close eye on them as we speak. Is there anything you wish for him to do further?"

Ren clenched his jaw. The padawan's words rang in his head, Perhaps we shouldn't be enemies to start with. Ren brought a hand to his face, his fingers grazing over his scar. 

"My Lord?"

Ren blinked. "Let Rogue continue watching them. We shall deal with them in time."

"Yes, my Lord." 

And with that, Ren switched off the comms and laid back down. He was going to get no more sleep tonight.