"Have you guys ever heard of Kylo Ren-Slayer?"

Matt the Radar Technician's head bobbed nervously as he followed the Storm Troopers into the darkened engine room. His eyes behind the thick glasses he wore seemed to try to sheer through shadows. He swallowed nervously, and audibly.

FN-2158 scoffed. "Kylo? That's just a story told by vets to make us rookies soil our armor. There's no such person."

"That's just it." Matt coughed nervously. "The stories say he might not be a person."

"What have you heard?" FN-2194 asked in a scared voice. He had just been assigned to duty aboard the transport freighter. He didn't like the frightened look on the children's faces as they herded them into the cargo container. It brought up memories he was trying very hard to forget from his own childhood.

"Some people say that went Supreme Leader Snoke destroyed Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy the spirits of the slaughtered students merged to form one vengeful spirit dedicated to overthrowing Snoke and anyone who fights for him." Matt whispered. He waved his light about. "The power junctions have to be around here somewhere."

"The dead don't come back," FN-2158 snarled. "What else have you heard … Matt?" He didn't like the technician. He didn't understand why the techs rated names while the troopers who did the real fighting were only given numbers.

"Some people say that Skywalker went mad and that he took on the identity of Kylo himself."

"That can't be true," FN-2158 argued. "Snoke wouldn't be looking for Skywalker if he knew that he was really Kylo. Assuming that such a person existed- which he doesn't."

Captain Phasma was very emphatic on the point that none of her troopers admit that Kylo Ren-Slayer existed.

"There's one last theory I've heard," Matt admitted. If possible, he looked even more scared.

"What is it?" FN-2194 asked in a faint whisper.

"They say that Kylo Ren is really Darth Vader." Matt swallowed again. "That he returned from the dead to exact an unholy vengeance on Snoke for daring to try to recreate the Empire."

This time even FN-2158 had no response.

"Let's get this done," he said finally. "Captain Phasma wants this freighter back in hyper space ASAP. The sooner we get the Radar dish repaired the sooner we can get back to the Finalizer."

"The controls should be right over there," Matt said, pointing his flashlight into a corner. "I'll go take care of it. You guys just watch to make sure that there's no one or nothing here to get me." He headed over to the corner.

"What could be here?" FN-2194 inquired. He nervously fingered his blaster rifle.

"I've heard of giant eels in trash compactors," Matt replied from the darkness. "Who knows what could be down here in the dark?"

"FN-2194, you stay here. I'll go do a quick sweep of the perimeter. You call out if you need assistance. That goes for you too, Matt."

"Yes, sir," the technician called. FN-2158 could hear him working.

Matt seemed to be a very strange person, but at least he was a hard worker.

The freighter wasn't especially large. Normally, the First Order wouldn't have been transporting recruits this young- they hadn't even started conditioning yet- but the education center had been attacked by the Resistance. They had barely managed to get this group of cadets away before it was completely destroyed.

FN-2158 cursed. Leia Organa had died nearly 20 years ago along with her misbegotten smuggler husband, but the Resistance- her legacy- seemed determined to oppose the First Order at every turn.

The engine room was fairly small as befitted such a small ship. FN-2158 wasn't trained to be an engineer- or a pilot or technician, for that matter- but at first nothing seemed out of place.

At first.

He found some new piece attached to the engine that he didn't recognize. They looked fairly new, too. By itself, that didn't mean anything. The First Order was constantly upgrading its equipment. But somehow, FN-2158's gut was telling him that this was something else.

"Matt?" he called out. "Can you come over here? There's something I need you to take a look at."

Silence.

"Matt? FN-2194 are you there?"

More silence.

"Kriff," FN-2158 cursed. He drew his blaster rifle. The smart thing to do would be to call for backup- of course, if it were nothing then Phasma would not be happy with him. As commanding officer, he would be responsible for any infiltration of the ship.

He did not call for backup.

"Let it be eels," he muttered to himself. "Please let it be eels. Or Rathtars. Anything but the Resistance."

When he returned to the radar dish controls, there was no blood.

FN-2194 was there. Standing at attention as though Supreme Leader Snoke himself were on his way. He was poster perfect.

"2194? Why the kriff didn't you answer me?" Fn-2158 demanded.

FN-2194 said nothing.

FN-2158 angrily reached out and grabbed the other man. He shook him. "Answer me when I'm talking to you."

"He can't;"

The voice wasn't Matt's.

FN-2158 let go of 2194 and grabbed for his blaster rifle- and it flew right out of his hands.

"He can't answer because I told him not to."

The man who stepped out of the shadows was definitely not Matt.

He was tall. Wearing a mask with silver trim and dark robes.

A blood-red Starbird- symbol of the Resistance- and the Rebellion before it- was emblazoned on his chest.

"Where's Matt-?"

"He can't help you now. Do you know who I am?"

"You're Kylo Ren-Slayer," FN-2158 whispered.

"Yes."

"You're real."

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Please-"

Kylo raised his hand. "You will take FN-2194 and head to the nearest Escape Pod. You will eject. You will tell your rescuers there was a radiation leak that required you to abandon ship. You will remember nothing of me or this conversation."

"I will take FN-2194 to the nearest Escape Pod. I will eject. I will take my rescuers there was a radiation leak that required us to abandon ship. I will remember nothing of you or this conversation."

"FN-2194, you will say the same thing. Now go- both of you."

The two Troopers walked out.

Kylo sighed beneath his mask. He had killed Stormtroopers in the past, and he would doubtless do so in the future, but he never liked to do so unless he had no other choice. They were all victims of the First Order- just as his parents had been.

Kylo, you're a terrible Darksider, he whispered to himself.

He had chosen vengeance rather than justice. He had chosen the path of the Darkside rather than the Light. He had broken his uncle's heart when he did so.

But no matter how hard he tried, he was still the son of his mother and father, and the flickering light of Ben Solo's soul remained in the shadowed heart of Kylo Ren-Slayer.

No, he did not want to kill the Stormtroopers.

Captain Phasma- the woman who twisted children until they were loyal to the First Order that had enslaved them- was another matter.

She he could kill.

Kylo ignited his blood red light saber and made his way to the bridge.

..**..

He scrambled the ship's communications center with a device that one of his allies (not a friend because he had no friends) had made for him. No one on the bridge would know that anything was wrong until they tried to signal the Finalizer.

By then, it would be too late.

He stealthily made his way to the bridge. The mind trick was useful, but it took energy- a small amount on an individual basis, but the cost grew the more he did it- and he could not afford to waste too much. Phasma was not a Force user, but she was a formidable hand to hand combatant- possibly even more dangerous than any of Snoke's Ren Knights.

Kylo allowed himself a small smile behind his mask.

The Knights of Ren were gone.

He had killed them all- one by one, he had destroyed the men and women who had turned on Luke's Academy. Some of them had cursed him as they died, some had begged for their lives, a few had even tried to bargain- a Jedi Knight would have spared them when they surrendered. That's what the Code demanded.

That was why Kylo could not be a Jedi.

He killed them. Each and every one. He killed them with efficiency in lieu of mercy. He destroyed them as they had destroyed the Jedi.

Now only Phasma and Armitage Hux stood between Kylo and Snoke.

And the old man feared him.

He could feel it in the Force.

No matter what it took, he would find the strength he needed in the Darkside to destroy Supreme Leader Snoke and put an end to the First Order. He would finish what his grandfather had started. He would bring peace to the galaxy.

He would avenge his parents.

He would avenge the Jedi Academy.

He would make Snoke pay.

No matter what it cost him.

..**..

It had to be Kylo Ren-Slayer.

Phasma muttered a soft curse inside the security of her armor. Her education center- the one she had created to provide Supreme Leader Snoke with the finest Stormtroopers so far- was gone. The shields had been disabled, allowing those Force-damned Resistance pilots to blow it to hell. She had barely managed to grab a score of her finest recruits and get them on this freighter before the center had been lost. The Resistance was too soft-hearted to murder children, but Phasma had no doubt that she would never see her youngest recruits again- unless it was at the wrong end of a blaster rifle.

And it all had to be due to Kylo.

Phasma growled. She paced the bridge. She had encountered Kylo once face to face. She did not want to do so again. "More speed."

"We're redlining it now," the pilot told her softly. He didn't say it defiantly. "There's no sign the Resistance has any idea where we went. We should be safe."

"Never assume safety!" If he wasn't her only pilot, she would have killed him for that. "We were betrayed. Someone shut off the shields. Someone broadcast-ed our location to the Resistance. It happened once. It could happen again."

The pilot wisely said nothing more.

The ship lurched.

"What just happened?!" Phasma demanded.

"The engine! Something shut down the engine- shunted us right out of hyperspace!"

"Kriff!" Phasma swore. "Call the Finalizer!"

Hux would never let her hear the end of it, but she wasn't too proud to call for help now.

"Com's are down!" the communications officer cried, flipping switches and slamming her hands on the control board. "I can't raise anyone!"

"Kriff!" Phasma swore again. She drew her vibro-blade. "Stay here. Work on getting control back on the ship or figure out a way to call for backup! I'll be right back!"

She didn't want to leave the bridge, but she had to. "FN-2194, FN-2158, report!"

They didn't answer.

"Captain Phasma!" the pilot reported. "One of our escape pods is gone!"

Kriff.

There was hope that whoever had shut down the engines had used the escape pod to flee her vengeance. It was possible the escape pod was an equipment malfunction. It was even remotely possible that her Stormtroopers had defected.

But she knew her enemy was still aboard.

She could feel it. She could feel him.

She knew what she had to do. "Bridge, this is Phasma. I'm heading to the cargo bay. Notify me of any trouble."

"Acknowledged," the pilot replied. "Com thinks she can bounce a distress signal through our passive sensors. It will take time, but it should be received by the First Order."

"Do it."

The recruits she had managed to save were in a cargo container. She had stowed them on board even as the center was being destroyed. She simply couldn't return to Snoke empty-handed.

He was waiting for her in the cargo bay.

He was standing there in the shadows. A tall figure in black, wielding a blood red light saber.

"You still wear the clothing that Supreme Leader Snok chose for you," Phasma said as she drew her vibro-blade. The weapon could block a light saber's blows, but it wasn't as light or fast to use.

"With modifications." Kylo tapped the Starbird symbol on his chest.

"You became a rebel when you could have been so much more. Weakling!"

"I'm my father's son- and my mother's." Kylo weaved his blade. "Let's finish this."

"We will- but in a manner of my choosing." Phasma wrapped her free hand around one of the cargo chains.

Kylo watched her, bemused. "I have no intention of using the Force to bring you to me, Phasma."

"I know." Phasma grinned beneath her helmet. "Emergency override Phasma clearance! Cargo bay open now!"

The cargo doors flew open and the bay was exposed to the vacuum of space.

Phasma grinned. She was strong enough to hold onto the chain- for a few minutes at least. That would be more than enough time for the Ren-Slayer to be blown out into space.

But he didn't move. His cape flapped wildly, and he leaned forward like a man fighting a strong wind, but he did not fly out into space. He did not let go of that light saber. Step by step he moved towards her.

Phasma swore.

And then the chains holding the cargo container- the one holding the students from her education center- snapped and the container flew into space.

"No!" Phasma cried.

Snoke would never forgive her for this failure.

Kylo watched the container fly out into space. He stared at Phasma for an instant, then attached the light saber to his belt-

And he let space claim him.

Phasma gaped in surprise. "Close the cargo bay doors!"

First the force shield, and then the doors themselves shut.

Phasma slouched in relief.

Any other man would be dead, but somehow she knew that Kylo was not. She knew that he had chosen to let go- that he had allowed himself to be sucked into space when he saw the cargo container go. He wasn't a man to let himself die- not when he had a mission to fulfill.

So why had he let go-?

And then she knew.

She knew now what she would offer to Snoke in exchange for her life. For this, he might spare her life. For this, he might even raise her over Hux.

She knew Kylo's weakness.

Kylo Ren-Slayer. Murderer of the Knights of Ren. Kylo, the fearsome Darksider who waged a one man war against the First Order with an implacable hatred that made him more dangerous than a squadron of Resistance fighters. Kylo, the only man alive that Snoke himself feared, had a weakness that they could exploit.

He had compassion.

He hadn't let go because his strength had failed him. He had let go to save the recruits.

Kylo the Ren-Slayer still valued innocent lives.

..**...

Kylo was falling though space.

His suit had a built in air supply. His uniform and his mastery of the Force would protect him from the ravages of space- at least for a short time.

The children would not be so lucky.

The cargo container would not immediately lose all its atmosphere, but its inhabitants only had minutes before it ran out. Panic would make them breathe faster. They would die long before some star or planet or moon pulled them in.

Kylo reached out with the Force, grabbing onto the cargo container with invisible claws. He pulled himself toward it. He pressed a button on his belt. He gritted his teeth as he grabbed the container.

Life was not meant to survive here.

But Kylo Ren-Slayer had faced death more than once, and he was not about to give up now. Not for himself. Not for the children.

He extended the Force around the container, trying to seal it off, to keep the air from bleeding out into space. It was dangerous- risky- he could inadvertently tear a hole in the container and make things a thousand times worse- but he had to give them as much time as possible.

And with every passing second, they were drifting farther and farther way from Phasma, and his vengeance.

Kriff.

If the children died, this would all be for nothing.

The seconds felt like minutes. The minutes felt like hours. He felt his concentration start to fray.

And then a familiar ship dropped out hyperspace.

His com crackled to life.

"Hey, boss," Rose Tico said with her usual cheer. "I told Chewie those modifications to your suit would be worth the trouble."

"You were right, Rose," Kylo admitted wearily.

Chewbacca barked a greeting.

"I'm fine, Chewie. We need to get this container in the Falcon. Lives are at stake."

Chewbacca growled.

"Yes. I know lives are always at stake. Save the scolding for later, Chewie. Once I'm safely aboard, we have to contact the Resistance. The First Order is looking for Luke- and I think they may be close to finding him."

Chewbacca roared.

"Yes, we're going to stop them. We'll stop them or my name isn't ..."

..**...

And countless light years away, a lonely girl on Jakku woke up in the abandoned AT-AT that served as her home. She shouted a name.

"Ben!"

A dream.

It was only a dream.

It had to be a dream.

Rey forced her breathing to calm down.

"They're just dreams. He's not real. It didn't happen. I'm just having these dreams because of the stories I've heard at the Outpost. There is no Kylo Ren-Slayer. There is no Ben. He's not real. None of this is real."

She told herself that over and over until she fell asleep.

(But she knew she was lying to herself.)

Author's Note: And here we go. I've seen one other story once that used Kylo as a Batman analogue, but nothing quite like this. Hope you're all entertained enough to want to read more. :D