Force Destiny

Shadows

Ben stared at his reflection in the durasteel as he waited in the shadows. The toxin had spread. The euphoric feeling from the toxin was slowly giving way to pain. Ben could feel his body shutting down as the weakness returned. He searched deep for the rage that could give him strength. He could feel the throbbing of the Force around him, although he still could not find a way to connect with it. Luke had told him stories of his "phantom limb" – of feeling sensations in a piece of his body that no longer existed. In that moment, the Force felt like a phantom limb. Only he would much rather do this without an arm or a leg. The Force—it was the blood in his veins. He didn't know how to exist without it. And now he had to attempt the impossible without something that had become as much a part of him as the legacy it was borne from.

He knew how this would likely end. Though he had set the rods on both the north and south ends of the elevated walkway, he hoped it wouldn't come down to that—though everything in him suggested it would. He shook his head and tried not to think too many steps ahead. He had to force his way onto the Command Bridge first. Everything that happened after that was out of his control. An officer passed by the hallway, and Ben stepped out from the shadows. He grabbed the high-ranking officer's shoulder and put his lightsaber hilt against the man's back.

"Don't move, or I'll activate this plasma blade that will pierce right through you."

The officer turned his head, recoiling at the sight of Ben. Ben figured he looked more monstrous than ever, with the network of black vessels reaching across his face and into the whites of his eyes.

"You," the officer's face twisted in horror. "You're dead!"

"Not yet," he hissed through clenched teeth. His thumb twitched on the activation switch of the weapon. He suppressed the desire to impale the officer right then and there. Instead, Ben pushed the officer forward, keeping one hand on the man's shoulder and the lightsaber hilt pressed tightly against his back. The officer walked quietly and compliantly, having been the target of Kylo Ren's wrath more than once. The blast doors opened for the officer, and Ben pushed him inside. He activated his lightsaber, thrusting it into the door control panel.

He turned, bracing himself to block the barrage of blaster fire that would inevitably come his way. The officers remained still with weapons in their holsters, however. Their eyes were on the man at the head of the bridge, his hands clasped behind his back, turned away from Ben.

"I envy every person who has never met you," the man sighed. "You shouldn't have come back."