Joining the Ranks [closed]
“Is my training complete?”
Snoke laughed as one would at a young child’s naive question.
After years of learning to wield the Force and studying its subtleties, Kylo was certain she had mastered most of what there was to learn. She had long surpassed her fellow Knights of Ren, and was surely approaching what Skywalker was capable of. In fact, with the power of the Dark Side at her disposal, Kylo had been able to achieve feats that she had never seen Skywalker even attempt. “Master of the Knights of Ren” was what Snoke dubbed her, his star pupil.
Then why did Snoke laugh?
With her helmet tucked under her arm, there was nothing to hide her perplexed expression.
“You still have much to learn.” He smiled, as much as one could with a face so disfigured.
Before Kylo could ask about what other mysteries of the Force she had yet to uncover, Snoke spoke again.
“Using the Force in the controlled environment you are accustomed to does not compare to experience in the field.”
That was obvious enough to almost be insulting. Kylo had been on training excursions with the other Knights to highly populated cities, space stations, and backwater villages. She had never once failed.
“There is more,” Snoke cut in. “I am in need of your skills. With you and General Hux working together, I expect that you will find the missing parts of the map more readily. Your capabilities will also prove useful in regular military operations.”
“I see,” Kylo replied as the irritation from moments earlier dissipated. “Very well. I will recover the map.”
“Good,” Snoke said. “Now go. Your command shuttle is waiting.”
Kylo’s eyes lit up. Her command shuttle?
She quickly put her helmet on, concealing the grin spreading across her face as she turned to leave Snoke’s chamber, cloak billowing behind her.
The shuttle was better than she expected. From the outside, she could tell it had some custom modifications compared to the usual model reserved for high ranking First Order members. Longer wings, different colour, and hopefully a more powerful engine. Her shuttle was special.
Two lines of stormtroopers waited at attention in front of the shuttle. Kylo marched through them, and two by two, the stormtroopers followed after her. She could get used to this.
Traveling from Snoke’s remote planet to the Finalizer was slow. Kylo filled the time by extracting details about the command shuttle’s features from the pilot. The man radiated such pure terror that he would certainly be incapable of handling the shuttle’s controls when the time came to leave hyperspace. Was she really so terrifying?
“Stop it,” Kylo commanded curtly. “I have no reason to harm you.”
They exited hyperspace, and the impressive Finalizer came into view. As they made their landing approach in the docking bay, Kylo noticed ranks of stormtroopers, pilots, and officers neatly lined up. Waiting to greet her. Did the Imperial troops do this for Darth Vader? They must have.
She pulled her hood over her helmet on preparation for making an entrance. Without the mask covering her ever-widening grin, Kylo was unsure she would be able to do this while still being taken seriously.
The door opened with a hiss and a little smoke, and Kylo marched down the ramp, exerting all the confidence she could muster. She walked purposefully towards the ginger-haired man standing at the center of this spectacle.
“You must be General Hux.”
