Force Destiny

Change of Plan

"I had to come back," Ben said to the man standing at the viewport. "I made you a promise."

The red-headed man turned, his piercing blue eyes burning into Ben's. "Of all your many weaknesses, Ren, your will to survive is not one of them."

"Of all of your many strengths, Hux, seeing a plan through to its finality is not yours," Ben replied.

"The Knights assured me that you would be dead. Yet here you are. You look like death—but clearly are still very much alive."

Ben smiled mockingly. The ease of the banter did not lessen the dread in his gut. "I would have been dead if they hadn't injected me. So, really, I should thank them."

"I'll make sure they finish the job this time," Hux promised, his voice dripping with disdain. Ben's eyes tracked the general as he crossed before the viewport. The last time they had seen each other, Hux had nearly been successful in killing him. Ben wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

When the general came to a stop, Ben noticed a split in the man's lip. "Shouldn't you be dead in a room in Weapons Development?"

"Oh, yes, the girl you threw everything away for. I don't know what she sees in you. You...the petulant man-child she defeated because you fell apart after killing your father. And I don't know what you see in her. She doesn't share your rabid ruthlessness, Ren; here I am, when she easily could have killed me."

A profound wrath dug its claws into Ben's control at the mere mention of Rey. "You say she defeated me in my moment of weakness. But you...you're just weak. You will never be strong enough to be—"

"I will be the strongest Supreme Leader the First Order has ever seen!" Hux screeched. "I will destroy the Resistance and bring order back to the galaxy in a way you or Snoke never could! It is your Force power which has held me back from my true potential! Once you all die, there will be no one left to challenge me! Your weakness has gotten in my way for too long. Do your Force powers help you defy death? They had to be the reason your little Force princess didn't surrender her power to me in my machine. You two just...won't...die!" Ben lost control of the rage when he pictured what Hux had done to Rey. Before Ben had even contemplated his options, his finger flinched on the activation switch and the crimson blade appeared.

He moved toward his former general with his lightsaber raised. Hux drew his blaster pistol and aimed it at him. Hux was able to get off one shot, which Ben easily blocked before he was upon him. Ben swung the lightsaber at Hux, burning his uniform with the tip of his blade and cutting the pistol in half. He sensed a blaster shot behind him from one of the officers and turned to block it, redirecting it at the officer. The other officers began firing across the room, which he returned in their direction. As Ben turned, his former general flipped a monomolecular dagger from his sleeve.

Hot pain shot through Ben's lower back. In one swift move, Hux had stepped forward and embedded the dagger into him. Ben groaned as warmth spread from the wound.

"Your personal interests will always be your weakness, Ren," he smiled.

The pain brought a new strength that Ben grasped onto, drawing the power of the darkness in, letting it consume him. He released his rage on the other officers in the room. Other than a blocked blaster shot or two, they hardly fought back, as if they had resigned themselves to their fate. When he was finished, he deactivated his weapon and groaned, removing the dagger from his lower back.

"The Knights of Ren are on their way," Hux warned. He had backed himself against the control panel on the far side of the bridge. "You stand no chance against them like this."

"You're so right," Ben replied sarcastically. He turned and threw the dagger across the room before the other man could react. It hit Hux in the upper chest with force. The man gasped, eyes widened, as his chest wheezed through the new wound.

"Rey, are you there?" Ben murmured into the comlink.

"Ben?"

He ignited his lightsaber. "We have to change the plan. I've got company."

"So do we," she answered.