Force Destiny

Fate

As Rey disappeared across the galaxy, Kylo flinched with the snap in the Force. This feeling that consumed him was different than betrayal. He didn't know what it was, but it threatened to bring him to his knees. He had trusted her with the vial, but it had been far more than just the vial to him. And she had willingly handed it to Poe Dameron. If he never had to see that man again, it would be too soon. What she did was unforgivable, but there were more pressing—distracting—matters to attend to.

Kylo spun on his heels, refocusing on the woman trafficking the artifact he had paid for so handsomely. He had left her waiting, but he could blame it on an urgent holocall from his general. Technically, it was the truth. Stalking through the blastdoor, he burst into the conference room with an apology on his lips—the empty conference room. A shiver of fear rolled down his spine, the severity of the situation settling over him. There was no evidence she had ever been there and, worse, no proof the artifact he needed to defeat Sidious was at the coordinates she had provided. He could alert troopers to halt her departure, but he sensed she had already found her way off the ship.

The destroyer lurched as they exited the last hyperspace jump, and he felt it – a high concentration of darkness in the Force, stronger than anything he had ever felt before, even in the presence of Sidious. He could almost feel the artifact wrapping its dark tendrils around his soul, calling to him, beguiling him to its will.

"Supreme Leader," a voice rasped over his comlink. "Maintenance has the new... furnishings for your chambers, sir."

Kylo didn't need to step back into his chambers to know that the bed was still in tatters after he lashed out following the clash with members of the Resistance – when Poe Dameron nearly killed Rey to prove a point. "Have it installed when I'm on-world. But it will require a cleaning crew first. Droids only."

"And the repair crew?"

"No need," he sighed. "Nothing significant was destroyed." It was a lie. Certainly, it was only a bed that had been destroyed. But he had lain on that bed, in those sheets, with her. Both Luke and Sidious had trained away his sentiment toward possessions, but losing that reminder of her was more troubling than he cared to admit.

The Master Comms signaled from the Command Bridge. "Supreme leader, we have arrived at the provided coordinates."

Kylo had felt the ship exit hyperspace; he knew they had been close. But that didn't stop the foreboding dread that prickled on the back of his neck.

Where are we?

As if compelled by the artifact itself, or perhaps something darker, he stormed from the room into his chambers. He was suffocating on darkness as he entered the room, his mind becoming heavy under a powerful shadow. The room was impossibly cold even as the black surfaces were illuminated like a raging inferno, reflecting the red and orange light emanating through the transparisteel. He moved to the viewport, though he instinctively knew what fiery planet he would find them orbiting.

As he stared out at the rivers of lava, Blue nudged into his knee. The droid had been hidden in his chambers during the meeting, but the last jolt from hyperspace had likely drawn him out. Kylo had barely accepted their location by the time the droid began asking his string of questions.

"What's wrong, Blue, is that I don't want to go down there."

The droid was still cheerful, ignorant of the dangers they both faced if he went down there. "Because I can feel the darkness from here. This is stronger than anything I've ever felt. I'm... afraid." He knew he should want it —the power of the darkness—but he didn't know if he could do it anymore.

The droid repeated his favorite question. Why?

"I don't know," he whispered, "what monsters will find me down there. I don't know what it will do to me. I want you to hide and not come out until you're sure it's me." Blue was more hesitant with his next question.

"Because I don't know who will come back."

Finally, the droid began to understand the severity of the consequences of Kylo going on-world. His following beeps were a plea. "I have to go; there's something down there I need, and it's more important than anything—even my freedom."

The darkness called him to the viewport, the magnetism drawing his feet forward nearly against his will. The sight was a confirmation of his fears. Thankfully, the darkness broke through and swiftly consumed his growing dread. When he spoke again, his voice was emotionless.

"No, it's not that type of battle; this isn't Concordia."

When the droid asked his final question, Kylo could barely him over the howl of the dark. He stared out the viewport at the fiery world. How could he explain where they were? Did the droid know what Hell was? He decided to side with the truth. "Mustafar."