STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

FINN

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

     "He no longer clung to the simplistic ideals of right or wrong, nor good and evil. He understood better than anyone that darkness and light were intertwined in strange, complex ways."
                               ***

   "KYLO REN failed."

Snoke grimaced at the voice of the wavering blue hologram that had dared to appear before him. Settling on a sable throne, the Supreme Leader placed a pallid hand underneath his ruined chin.

    "The failures of Kylo were borne from something much larger at work, Sendrik Esso. Be mindful of your place amongst the Ren." Snoke susurrated softly.

Sendrik's horned mask dipped in derision.

  "You passively watched as General Hux and Kylo played Galactic Empire. Now look at us, 'Supreme Leader'. Starkiller base is gone. The Galactic Alliance has pushed their offensive into our remaining systems. The First Order is crumbling." Sendrik's anger was almost palpable across stars.

  "The First Order has played her role. You know Sendrik, as much as I do, the fluidity of the Force. You have seen the visions, haven't you? The same ones that brought us together- the same ones that created the Ren." Snoke said softly.

  Sendrik's shoulders lowered as Snoke washed over the Ren's mind with his own thoughts.

  "I understand your anger. Your confusion. I promise you, as I promised the rest of the Ren this: We will prevent the coming darkness."
  Snoke stood from his throne, removing an onyx hood that obscured his face.

An unseen hand forced Sendrik to his knees.
Snoke spoke. His voice was gentle, reassuring one's mind as if a stilling breeze.
   "We will bring balance to the Jedi, a lasting cure for a blighted religion."

                                 ***
             CORUSCANT

GRAND DIRECTOR GUILMÉTIA SELLA would never forget the first time she exited hyperspace above the diamond world, resplendent in wealth and corruption.

Her personal Galactic Alliance Defender, the Kasshern, hung overworld with a cadre of ships that looked more like a museum than an actual fleet.

  Repainted Clone War era Venators and Imperial Star Destroyers took up space beside newer Defender class vessels.
They were similar in appearance to Imperial craft of yore but with wider, larger hulls that were split down the middle.

Below the sea of metal and within Coruscant's cities, an Alliance was breaking at the seams. Senators from a thousand worlds debated on the future of the Galaxy's current hegemony.

   It had been one year since the destruction of Starkiller Base.

The resulting hysteria over the loss of a certain Hosnian system sprung the slumbering Alliance into action. An army, the Galactic Alliance Defense Force-was created almost immediately.
Systems covertly allied with the First Order announced themselves as the Central Federation of Ren, a new religion that seemingly sprung from the ashes of the dark side.

  Now, it was being debated if the Galactic Alliance should attack the Ren as well.

After all, the First Order was all but destroyed.

   "It's a different war in the senate chambers."
A voice called behind Guilmétia.
She turned on sharp heels to see Director Avade Pellaeon, son of the late Gilad Pellaeon.