Ouroboros

Twenty

Twenty.

The Star Destroyer burst back into real space just above Mustafar and swiftly established orbit, all guns live and primed. Captain Rinder gathered his reports from the bridge crew, confirmed that the ship was in order and then turned to the General.

"Orbit established. All systems nominal," he reported, his even voice calm. He was a neat man with buzz cut blond hair and thoughtful eyes. Hux nodded curtly.

"Scan the planet for signs of the Resistance ship," he ordered in his clipped voice. "And life forms."

"The device determined that they reached here," Rinder reported, "but the ionisation within the atmosphere and the pollution from the vulcanism renders standard scanners unreliable. High band will take longer."

"Then get to it," Hux commanded, sweeping his pale eyes over the bridge. Everything aboard the Eliminator was pristine, with no hissy fits from Ren or any sign of his abhorrent sorcerers, the Knights of Ren. And no evidence of Snoke either. Here, Hux was master of all he surveyed, served by loyal men and women who he treated well. And his personal ship had secretly been loaded with every technological innovation-including those that Snoke had suppressed or discarded. Hyperspace tracking had been proven over and over and he knew that it would serve him well-as it had in showing the way here. "And send out a summons to any of those remaining in the First Order, any ships or bases and order the commanders to my Flagship. Together, we can still rebuild...providing we can destroy that traitor!"

-o0o-

It was like being swathed in fog with a bad cold. Everything was muffled, the air thick with the stench of sulphur and the Force clogged with swirling, suffocating dark. Above him, the ruins of Castle Vader jutted against the roiling sky, the orange glow warming the clouds and seemingly setting them aflame. He was aware of the others, following him and he knew there would be little point in asking them to remain outside. The Castle had been built over a powerful gateway to the Dark Side and though that portal was now destroyed, the entire place had been swathed in darkness for so long that the voices were becoming harder and harder to ignore. That and the fact his head felt like it was splitting again.

Passing through the open gateway, he peered into the gloom. Half of the castle was collapsed but this hall seemed to be intact, diving deep into the bowels of the building. He peered, casting around for light. A few stray rays of the gloomy reddish light filtered through the cracks in the roof and he paused, inspecting the floor.

"Hey!" His head snapped round as Poe tossed him a flash lamp. "Try this. Hate to see you trip over and break your neck."

"Puts you in the minority," he muttered, tossing it back and igniting his lightsaber. The bluish light washed his pale features even paler, emphasising the stark contrasts between his dark eyes, raven hair and skin. Poe clicked on the flash lamp and sighed, checking the walls and floor as Ben walked forward, the hum of the weapon jarring amid the muffled silence. "Where did you get this?" he asked, searching the hallway ahead.

"Finn," Poe revealed. "He brought it...just in case. There were two lightsabers lying close to you and Rey when you were picked up from Exegol. Finn 'adopted' one." Frowning, Ben stared at the lightsaber.

"This was Luke's," he murmured, suppressing his animus towards his Uncle. Their relationship had been strained long before the legendary Jedi had tried to murder his sleeping nephew and though Ben had renounced the Dark, he still hadn't forgiven his Uncle. Yet in truth, the lightsaber was merely a tool, a device used to channel energy. Ignoring the kyber crystal within, the mystic connection between Jedi and crystal, the weapon was just a tool-and for now, it was a useful weapon and convenient source of light and Ben would make use of it while he could.