A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far, away...

(Opening Crawl)

STAR
WARS

DARKENED ICE

Unrest spreads! Although Starkiller Base has been demolished,
the sinister FIRST ORDER continues to reign supreme
with their efforts in hunting for the last surviving Jedi as well as his
new apprentice refusing to cease.

With their hope quickly dwindling, the RESISTANCE struggles
to find its footing and continue the fight while the behemoth
continues to carve a path of destruction throughout the stars.

One key part is missing however.
Far beyond the reaches of even the Unknown Regions,
against the orders of the Supreme Leader, an apprentice
searches for a presence that could result in dignity
being restored to the DARK SIDE...

(The Milky Way Galaxy)

Space, such a quiet and peaceful place. With its shimmering dots known as stars shining bright against dark emptiness alongside several different worlds, almost any person could find immediate solace and peace in just staring out and letting your mind run wild with its imagination. However, like all good things, there must always be a counter, for every person who looks to the galaxy for solace, there is always one who thinks of it as a reminder of what they could have. A reminder that if one has enough power, they could go across the land, taking each system over one by one, building an army so powerful and so vast that there would be no one to challenge or abuse you.

This was the mindset of a certain masked man whose massive fleet came ripping through the peaceful void, only to stop right when they were just a little ways away from a blue and green world and throughout almost the entire length of the trip, that man, the villainous Kylo Ren, stared out into the emptiness, letting his mind wander over these very thoughts. On occasion, he would turn to respond to passing staff members or just anyone that walked by at that moment but for the most part, he just stared out into the void and kept quiet.

It had been a few months now since his very first and what he thought to be a minor failure and that was when he lost FN-2187, a single trooper which he thought would be killed with ease but little did he know at the time, that one moment would then lead to him gaining the map to Luke and even further down the line, the destruction of the First Order's glorious weapon that was made in tribute to his late grandfather's own.

Remembering that day filled Ren up with a fury like no other, a fury that he'd usually use up slashing various pieces of equipment or troopers but in the case of this time, he felt it was far more personal. Not only did that girl best him but he felt she also destroyed his dignity, left him broken and embarrassed to the point where he couldn't even find the strength to stand and had to have various troopers help him hobble back to his ship.

During this small little moment of reminiscing, the Dark Lord raised his hand up to his originally clean face and began to trace a single finger from the bottom of his scar up to his newly yellowed eyes, showcasing just how much more immersed he was in the Dark Side. But to him, it was nothing and when he looked at his faint reflection on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, he saw not a master like his grandfather before him, rather he saw a weak, frail fool who was far too powerful for his own good. To him, the failure was completely the fault of him and him alone since had he not let his guard down or become so reckless, he would've actually won but instead, he made the exact SAME mistake as his grandfather did and let his confidence become his undoing. With his gaze still locked on the vastness of space, Kylo slowly moved his hand away from his face and proceeded to flatten it against the glass as he let out a simple whisper.

"When I find you again desert girl," He began with a low sinister voice that was trailing dangerously close towards being a growl. "may the Force have mercy for I will not. Not only did you make a mockery of me and the First Order but you've completely removed all dignity from the Dark Side, dignity that we were working so hard to restore. So let it be known that when I find you, I will not just slice you into pieces, I will crush your internals, break every bone, destroy everything and everyone you once loved until you're nothing but a lonely husk who now knows the true might of the Dark Side."

"Don't linger on her." A voice sounded off from out of the blue right as Ren felt a sudden warmth encompass his right shoulder. When he turned, he saw the face of the one commander he always dreaded to hear from but respected nevertheless, General Hux. "After all, it is you who initially decided to go on this little fetch quest of yours against the orders of Supreme Leader Snoke who may I remind you stated that if anything happens this time, he's..."

"Not going to show me anymore mercy." Ren finished with a solemn voice with minor hints of anger before letting out a small sigh. "I know, but you can't deny the fact that my master let me take this mission because he also felt the presence in the Force as much as I did." In response, Hux just let out a sigh of his own.

"Regardless, it has been ten days since you felt the presence and it took another five to get where we are," Hux began. "and do I even need to mention the fact that we pulled thousands upon thousands of worthy troopers out here who should be fighting the battle against that blasted Republic and instead, we're risking it all over a hunch which will most likely turn out not to be true." Usually if this was any other officer, the worst they could expect from Kylo was a beam of hot condensed energy rammed deep into their stomach before leaving their lifeless bodies to be dumped out the airlock by a group of loyal sanitation officers but Hux he knew was one not to try it with. To him, no matter what the situation may be, he knew that if Snoke gave him someone he trusted that he better damn well keep them safe and unlike the others, Hux proved that he was the best from the very moment he was brought on board.

Despite being fresh off his training and thus he lacked the patience of many older officers on board, Hux displayed a great deal of ferocity, unwavering loyalty and a great deal of tact unlike most of those that he had seen before. Unlike many troopers, Hux actually was able to understand the Force far more thanks to his discussions with both Ren and Snoke and as far as his leadership skills were concerned, they were what led to many a victory. Knowing this full well, the Dark Lord instead just signaled for his general to walk with him back to his chambers and continued their conversation as they went along.

"Why is it that you continue to defy me general?" He questioned. "With your feelings being this strong, one would think you would've abandoned ship by now."

"So that way you can run the First Order into the ground?" Hux asked with a scoff. "Spare me the arrogance, I was given strict orders by Supreme Leader to accompany you on any and all missions."

"Only because you are providing the funding and our troops." replied Kylo.

"It's because of my training in dealing with those who have temper tantrums that I have to always keep an eye on you."

"And why is that?"

"Have you forgotten the several times you've nearly killed those who had important information leading us to our goals?"

"Those times are insignificant and in the distant past, I don't dwell on th-"

"And yet you still dwell on her." Kylo immediately came to a halt, his now shaking hands just barely grasping his mask. Realizing he struck a nerve, Hux just remained silent, knowing what Ren would do next and sure enough, in the next few moments when Ren finally spoke again, his voice had once again become that of a low growl with maybe some slight cracks in between sentences.

"She humiliated me." Kylo said as he raised the mask to his face.

"And yet despite how strongly you feel about it," Hux began. "you are not going to resolve the very issue that fuels your anger and are instead worrying about a ridiculous hunch! A hunch that if it turns up nothing will most likely get us all killed! What if the Resistance has a copy of this information?! By this point, we are nothing but sitting ducks out here while our troopers are being WIPED off the face of the galaxy! And soon, they will come for us... and let me tell you Kylo Ren, regardless of my position... I absolutely REFUSE to sit here while you run this fleet into the gr-"

"Commander Ren!" One silver, feminine caped trooper called out, cutting off Hux in almost an instant.

"What is it Captain?" Kylo asked right as he locked his helmet shut.

"We've found a small landing zone but it's nearby a small village, what are your orders on that?" Immediately, Hux turned towards his superior, knowing full well that he still was reeling from their previous chat and so he felt he had a clear idea on what his order would be. Dead silence was present in the room with both sets of eyes still staring at the Dark Lord with curiosity about his answer still present in their minds. After a few seconds, Ren slowly looked over towards his prized possession, the charred, damaged helmet of his grandfather and after a few seconds of staring and an eternity of silence, he finally made his decision.

"Sir?" Phasma asked with concern. In response, Ren calmly turned his head towards her and uttered a simple order.

"They could be of use to us." He began as he raised his hood and proceeded to walk towards the direction of the hanger bay. "Come with me, if they have an elder they might be able to provide us with intel on the girls' location and if they don't, you know what to do." With a simple nod, Phasma was just about to make her way down the direction Ren was heading when Hux stopped her by quickly jerking his arm out in front.

"Keep a close eye on him." ordered Hux. "He's not exactly the most emotionally stable after what happe-"

"Don't fret General." Phasma commented. "I'm still reeling as well, at least this will provide us some relief." With that, Phasma continued down her merry way right after shoving Hux's arm out of the way, leaving him to watch as the metal doors quickly shut. A few seconds later and with a sigh, the young general slowly turned towards the burnt helmet in the room and let his mind wander.

"I honestly wonder what you would've done had you survived." Hux thought to himself. He remained in the room for a few more seconds, taking in the reality what they were about to embark on and then turned to make his way back to his station to prepare for the attack.

(Undisclosed Village)

Darkness shrouded the snowy landscape and unlike the vastness of space, it wasn't exactly the most peaceful of times, despite what the serene setting would have you believe and no one knew this better than the one old man sitting peacefully in his home, looking at various photos of an average brown-haired male youth along with his two friends, one male and one female. Letting out a small sigh followed up by a brief cough, the elderly man began to lightly rub the photo with his thumb as he began to speak in a low whisper.

"If only I could see how much you've grown." The elder said to himself with a calm caring voice. "Hopefully you've kept out of trouble Tatsumi and I hope that you will come back very soon with your friends." Stopping for a moment to relight a small candle, he let out another coughing fit right as he set it down on a nearby counter. "It's hard to believe that it has been only a few months since you left on your journey since admittedly, it feels like it has been far longer than that. It has been so long in fact that so many villagers are actually wondering if you're even alive..." Soon, a low hum was sounding off in the elder's ears but due to it being so faint, he didn't care and instead continued to sit there and eye the small photo.

"...and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to have my doubts as well so all I'm hoping is that you do come back safely and very soon as I fear that it won't be long before some dreaded Danger Beast comes to rip us apart." Suddenly, a few seconds later, that humming noise became a loud screech that caused his eyes to shoot open, his hands to lose their grip on the photo and finally, the candle completely went out. A few seconds later as he stood up, the elder watched as one citizen ran into his room with clear fear in his eyes.

"Elder! There are multiple flying objects in the sky and they're heading towards us!" He shouted.

"Flying objects? What exactly are you talking about? I have no time to hear about nonsense."

"Sir this is urgent!" Despite his sheer disbelief at what he was hearing, the unknown screeching was still filling him to the brink with fear and yet he didn't know why. After a few seconds, the elder immediately began to follow the villager out and was immediately greeted by bright red lights along with a few box shaped ships beginning to land. Soon after, what looked to be a docking door flew open and out came several what appeared to be soldiers but unlike any he had ever seen with their sleek white and black armor and what appeared to be guns of some kind.

"By god..." He muttered to himself as he watched multiple villagers beginning to back away in fear as the soldiers began to point their weapons towards them while shouting out several commands.

"GET BACK! NOW! NOW!" Despite them only being orders, the elder could still feel the rage and hatred emanating from their voices, as if they were being held on a leash and were ready to shoot at any moment's notice. Finally after a few more seconds, the large ship with red lights landed and soon after, two troopers quickly shifted their attention towards him.

"You there!" One of them called out before signaling to a second trooper to come along.

"Are you the elder?" They said with a gruff male voice. Not willing to be bullied by a couple of strangers, the old man gave the troopers an evil look.

"Excuse me?" Unfortunately, that was the wrong answer since the second trooper leaned in closed and grabbed him by the arm before proceeding to roughly yank it until he was so close to the helmet that he could practically smell the breath of the man under it.

"Let's try that again. Are you the elder?!" With his strength unfading, the old man still kept his serious expression.

"I am but I refuse to be bullied by strangers I don't kn-"

"SHUT UP!" The trooper shouted right as he jerked his knee upward into the elder's stomach, causing him to immediately fall to the ground face first right as a loud gasp was heard from the rest of the villagers. Being left to groan and moan in pain, the elder felt as he was roughly hoisted upwards by the troopers who proceeded to drag him across the ground towards the large winged ship that was about to land.

"For your sake," The soldier who kneed him began. "I hope you don't anger the commander, villager scum, now get up!" Soon after, the soldiers forced the man up to his feet and slowly loosened their grip on his arms before immediately moving to point their guns directly towards the back of his skull. At that point, the elder didn't exactly know what he was in for until the hanger door on the sleek black ship dropped open, revealing even more troopers including one who had shining metallic armor along with a black and red cape but the one he had his sights set on the most was the man draped in a dark cloak with a simple looking metal mask that just barely concealed the massive evil aura that surrounded him and it was at that point that the man finally got the message of just how severe this was and so he silenced himself and simply watched as the cloaked figure slowly made his way towards him.

"Who are you?" The elder questioned, trying his best to keep calm.

"My apologies for the... rough introduction," The man began with his rough, robotic tone. "I am Kylo Ren, leader of the First Order and that's the only bit of information you'll get out of me for now but if you can cooperate with us and give out what we need then I can assure you that we will leave your village in peace." At that point, the old man didn't know what to say. Not only was the "apology" lacking sympathy and compassion but he essentially demanded that they give him what he needed while threatening him with death if he couldn't which filled him up with such a boiling rage to see his people treated with such hostility. Despite this, the old man held his tongue and simply looked his assailant in the eyes.

"Alright then, I'll play along with this. What is it that you seek and where have you come from?" He asked.

"That second half is insignificant." Ren began with a voice cold as ice. "All you need to know is that we've traveled far and wide to locate two individuals, both are female who I believe to have some form of connection to my family." As Kylo was speaking, the elder couldn't help but look around a bit at the faces of all his fellow villagers which were filled with such fright and despair as the troopers continued to have their weapons centered on them. A few seconds later, he felt as one trooper to his left quickly jerked his head back towards Ren right as he muttered a small threat towards him.

"Have you seen them?" Almost immediately, the elder tightened his lips together, indicating that he wasn't going to speak.

"It's an honest question." Kylo said, seemingly unfazed by his actions. "For your sake, I suggest you change your decision." Despite this, the elder still said nothing. After a few seconds of waiting, Ren gave a quick gesture towards the troopers and almost immediately, they proceeded to back away.

"Perhaps you aren't aware of the stakes at hand." Kylo began with a voice low and sinister. Suddenly, the cloaked figure jerked his arm out towards the elder and almost immediately, the man felt as his old body was sent flying through the air and straight through the snow, his bones cracking as they hit the hard rock beneath it all.

"ELDER!" One villager cried out right as they began to run towards him, only to be then kicked down to the ground by a nearby trooper.

"Stay still scum!" At that point, the man could only watch with fear as the cloaked assailant began to make his way towards the battered old man whose face was now bruised and stained with blood and when he tried to speak, his voice was hindered by coughs.

"Wh-what did you... do to me?" Uttering no answer, Ren just continued to walk towards the man and as he did, he began to loosen up what appeared to be a black metal tube from his belt.

"I'm only going to ask this one final time." Kylo said with his voice still just as sinister as before. "Where are the girls?" Again, the elder said nothing and so in just a few seconds, the man felt as he lost all control in his body much like how he did when he was pushed back with this time being much greater in feeling. It was almost as if his whole entire body was trying to fight against an invisible force that no matter how hard he tried to escape, the grip around him just kept tightening and tightening. Staring him down, Kylo Ren then pressed down a small button on the tube and immediately afterward, three vibrant red beams of energy shot forward and the moment they did, he did a small spin with the weapon before having the blade just far enough away from his throat to where he could feel the heat.

"My patience is dwindling, where are they?!" Ren demanded.

"I know nothing of these girls you speak of, just leave us alone!" The elder pleaded before then being flung upward until he was suspended in the air, with Ren's laser sword still pointed towards him.

"I see how it is." Kylo said, his voice a bit calmer. "You want to protect them, you're afraid of what will happen once I find the two of them aren't you?"

"What?!" The elder asked, baffled. "I've told you the truth, there never were anyone like them in this village, the only person who matched your description was Sayo who went off with two other people moments a-"

"Two others?" Ren questioned, remembering how he had sensed at least one extra presence before he flew off. "Tell me about them and I promise no harm will come to you." At that moment, the elder began to slowly open his mouth as if he was ready to speak... only for his face to then shift back into the serious expression moments before.

"Tatsumi and Ieyasu were their names but let this be known," He began. "their names are all you'll be getting out of me because may heaven have mercy on your soul since by now, I'm sure Tatsumi has gotten far stronger with how many beasts he has killed along with the training he received in the Imperial Army, your troops will be no match for him."

"Is that so?" Kylo began, his gaze still being locked on the elder. What felt like an eternity passed as silence filled the air, leaving no noises with the exception of the low hums emanating from the ships and their engines. After a little while longer, Kylo slowly looked around at the villagers until his gaze set on Phasma who he immediately gave a small gesture to which she followed by then proceeding to load her blaster with many troopers doing the same. Afterward, he turned back towards the old man where he then uttered a simple phrase.

"Thank you for your time." Then, in a moment that seemed to play in slow motion, the old man suddenly lurched forward towards Ren's lightsaber, causing the blade to run straight through his throat, killing him instantly much to the horror of all the villagers, who screamed out in fear. Taking a moment to look at the fearful faces, Kylo slowly turned his attention back towards the elder whose eyes had now shut tight, signifying that he entered the eternal sleep. A few seconds later, the Dark Lord then retracted his saber and let the limp corpse fall onto the snowy ground. After a few more seconds had passed, Ren took a moment to examine his surroundings and took in all the terrified and saddened expressions of all the people who watched him and after a few more seconds, he began to make his way back to his ship with his saber being shut off moments before he made it to the hangar. Then, he slowly turned around, set his hands behind his back and looked towards Phasma.

"Whenever you're ready Captain." Giving a quick nod, Phasma looked towards her men.

"All troops, steady your aim and prepare to fire on my command!" She demanded. Almost as quickly as the soldiers loaded up, the villagers began tensing up as they knew exactly what was coming up next. To most soldiers, this would be the hardest thing to witness but to Kylo Ren and his troops, they were watching this moment with clear delight on the faces behind those masks as they were ready to rid the galaxy of what they perceived to be the pathetic scum that lived in it.

"Ready..." The low whir of the blasters sounded off as several troopers straightened up their posture and looked down their sights.

"Aim..." Several little children buried their tear-drenched faces into their parents thighs in order to shield themselves from viewing their inevitable fate. After a few more seconds of silence had passed, Phasma straightened up her own posture and pointed her weapon towards the villagers.

"Fire!" At that moment, all hell broke loose. Several red blaster bolts came launching from the guns at breakneck speeds with every shot hitting its mark all while kicking up a large amount of smoke. Ren looked on at this with absolute delight and a hint of doubt since he knew some would try to hide. A few seconds later however, that doubt was put to rest once the smoke cleared and he saw the smoking, bloodied corpses of every villager lying down on the ground in one massive pile. Feeling his rage had been satisfied, Kylo turned towards one of his fellow soldiers and gave his orders.

"Go and tell Hux to keep his forces in range in case we need them." Kylo began as he proceeded to walk into his ship with Phasma by his side.

"Yes sir but there's just one question I have," Kylo halted himself and slowly turned towards the trooper. "what are you going to be doing from now on?"

"Looking for this Tatsumi and the Imperial Capital, if what that old fool said was helpful, it will hopefully lead me to the two girls I'm looking for." Feeling satisfied with his answer, the trooper headed back to his transport without any further questions, stopping only to give a small hand-signal and soon after, two Flametroopers came pouring out of the ship and immediately began setting the area aflame, making this the last beautiful sight that Kylo saw before his ship took off. As soon as the deep forests became miniature from the view they were at, Phasma turned towards her commanding officer.

"Sir, before we fired upon the villagers, I spotted a wom-"

"I saw her too." Ren began, his attention not at all leaving the cockpit. "I left her alone because I wanted her to get the message."

"Sounds like a big risk to me, what was your message?"

"I wanted her to see that the First Order was not one to be trifled with." Back near the village, as it was described, a blonde woman was just barely peeking her head out from behind one of the far off trees, her face showing a great deal of fear and anger as the last transport made its way upward into the sky.

"Just who the hell are they?" She thought to herself. "They don't look like the Empire but... they certainly aren't friendly. This is bad, I better warn Najenda and the others because if they're heading where I think they're heading, we're not surviving this one." Stopping only to take one final glance at the destroyed village, the woman then began to make haste back in the opposite direction with the hope that she could at the very least warn her friends about this new threat before it's too late.