Mother ~ The Sequel to Breeder

9

Kylo Ren's POV

That brief glimpse of Astrid through the Resistance pilot's mind left me dizzy, and slowly but surely, I could feel the pull to the light. It was hard to stay focused on my goal of locating Luke Skywalker- the sole purpose of my existence for the past five years- with the image of her green eyes in my mind. Were they darker than they used to be? I remembered them as bright, olive green, the gold flecks catching the light and refracting it, but now they looked cooler, deeper, a greyish tint to both her irises and complexion.

I shook these treacherous thoughts from my mind as best I could. When I donned my mask, I gave up my right to pine after Astrid, to feel longing or affection for another being. But I couldn't shun my yearning on my own; I needed the assistance of my master.

General Hux was already in the hologram hall when I arrived, turning to glare at my intrusion, but he didn't dare say anything. Our relationship had always been contentious, but the bickering rivalry devolved into pure, unmitigated loathing after I discovered what he did to Astrid. Even with her gone, the rage never subsided. In fact, I cultivated it, used it to dominate him, to make sure he fell out of favor with Snoke, and he attempted to do the same to me.

"Supreme Leader." I kneeled in front of the massive blue hologram of my master.

"Kylo Ren," he said in his usual languid manner. "Rise."

I stood up, the feeling of Snoke poking around in my mind intrusive, but I'd learned to tolerate it. My fury and defiance had to be kept in check when I was in the Supreme Leader's presence.

"Ah, she's with the Resistance now."

It made me itch to think he'd seen her, felt the swirl of emotions I did, but I stifled my discomfort. Instead, I derived pleasure from the knowledge that Hux was utterly out of the loop, watching us stiffly.

"Do you want her back, Commander Ren?"

I shook my head once in each direction, slowly. "No."

"You can't lie to me." He laughed wheezingly. "When we crush General Organa's little rebellion, she'll be yours, as you wish."

The way he stoked these wretched desires made me flinch, but I stood there obediently. He hadn't led me astray yet.

"Do you want me to go after her?" My mask barely hid the hope in my voice.

"No, you will pursue the map to Skywalker; ending the Jedi is of the utmost importance. Still, I feel these two paths will intertwine fairly soon, and the search for Skywalker will bring Astrid to us."

Hux's eyes went wide at the mention of my former Breeder, but he didn't dare speak. We got our marching orders, and a new fire ignited in my gut. I told myself I simply burned with desire for revenge, to destroy the uncle who attempted to lead me into the light, to kill off the Resistance my useless mother fought so tirelessly to build, but Snoke's words stuck in my head. If I followed the righteousness path, I'd be rewarded, I'd have my Astrid back, and my son...

After I helped her escape, the Supreme Leader never assigned me another Breeder. His desire to mold my offspring into his image seemed to dissipate after one failure. As far as I knew, the Breeder program was still operational, though I couldn't imagine for what purpose. We'd turned to machines and violence to achieve our goals. The need for diplomacy and public relations was replaced with brute force.

"B-3025 is with the Resistance?" Hux demanded as soon as Snoke disappeared. "I never thought I'd hear about that girl again. Don't tell me you're going to-"

I grabbed the general by the throat through the force, lifting him off his feet, watching his pale face go red as he struggled to breathe. "It's been a few years, but I know I've told you that her fucking name is Astrid. If you ever call her by that fucking serial number again, I'll snap your spine like a twig."

Dropping him to the ground with a nasty-sounding thump, I turned on my heel and left the room, face dripping with sweat under my helmet.