Always In My Head

Chapter 10

The atmosphere in the throne room became tense as the reality of what had happened began to sink in.

Sofie and Ren were quickly ambushed by Snoke's guards still in the room. Sofie went after the guard holding Lana.

The guard quickly dropped an unconscious Lana and drew their weapon. They stepped towards Sofie with assertive attacks and left her no choice but to step back gradually.

Another guard joined their fight, attempting to attack Sofie from the side. She Force jumped to evade them and landed near Lana.

"Sofie!" She heard a voice yell from across the room. It was from Ben. She found him in the sea of red and watched as he threw another lightsaber towards her. She caught it and recognized it instantly. It was her first lightsaber from the Jedi Academy.

She ignited the old saber in her other hand and began to move offensively on the guards. She chose one to attack aggressively and attempted to stave off the other with the Force.

She could tell that the guard was highly skilled. Sofie focused on defending herself to keep up with their pace. Finally, she disarmed the guard and then injured him.

Sofie finished off the rest of the guards that flocked towards her in a similar fashion. She occasionally eyed Ben across the room who seemed to be taking a more aggressive approach to his opponents. He didn't hesitate to kill them if the opportunity arose.

Finally, they had injured or killed enough guards to easily take the remaining three.

While fighting alongside Ben she noted the distinct ways their fighting styles had evolved. Ben had become more ruthless and reactionary. His swings were driven by emotion and focus was secondary.

Sofie fought to injure, not kill. She still preferred to perform acrobatic maneuvers to evade her enemies and preferred to make defensive over moves focusing on offense.

Their fighting styles complemented each other. Sofie could engage an opponent but then give Ben a chance to launch at them with surprising aggression. This also worked in reverse to their advantage.

Once all guards were incapacitated, Sofie put her lightsabers away and ran to check on Lana. She was asleep still, but definitely alive. Sofie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sofie," Ben said behind her. Sofie stood up and looked towards Ben with interest. She smiled at him with joy and relief.

"You're free now, Ben. Snoke can't whisper in your ear or tell you what to do anymore. You can come back with us." Sofie moved close to him and reached out to grab his hand.

"Snoke is gone which means I am now the Supreme Leader. Who in their right mind would throw away power like this?" Ben said, gripping Sofie's hand tightly. "Look how we fought together to defeat these guards. Imagine what we could accomplish together on a galaxy-level. Then I will finally travel to Mustafar and find the power that my grandfather was too weak for."

Sofie pulled her hand away. "What? You're speaking nonsense, you've changed. I can tell," she said to him. He scowled at her.

"Sofie, I've never changed. You're creating stories in your head about me." Ben looked at her with intense eyes. "As Supreme Leader, I can finally bring the balance that my grandfather could not. This is the best option. Lana will get the best training, she will always be safe, and you can finally find the rest of your family."

"I've watched you destroy planets and civilizations first-hand, this is wrong and you know it," Sofie told him, her voice rising in volume.

This was the second time she had tried to reach out to him, but she was wrong. Nothing had changed.