Star Wars VIII: The Path to Anguish

Synopsis
We open on the familiar shot of a Star Destroyer hovering over the surface of a world and pull out to reveal Kalin-ewa - a world belonging to Smuggler Clans. The planet is surrounded by defensive ships all poised to attack, but the Star Destroyer glides past them elegantly as it approaches ever closer to the surface. The ships seem to part for it.

Inside the Star Destroyer, known as the Eternal, a new dark figure stands at the heart of the Bridge as he watches down passionately at his Imperial Officers, desperate to impress this high up figure in the First Order. They will not let their Master down. We watch as the figure, who wears white militaristic clothing, lifts up his head to reveal blue skin and soul destroying red eyes.

The figure turns to his Captain and tells him that they must make contact with the Smugglers on the planet surface and inform them of their arrival, so that the welcoming party will be ready to meet them. The Captain does as his Master tells him to whilst his Master looks down at his hard working crew once more.

In the Throne Palace of Kalin-ewa, leader of the gang Kunjina Caren - Ellin Darius - is told by his second that a transmission has arrived from the Eternal; the First Order has arrived. Darius dismisses his second before he calls another figure out of the shadows; a Mandalorian in green armour. He asks the Mandalorian for advise and the Mandalorian tells him to do everything the First Order tells him to do or be willing to face terrible consequences.

We watch as the Star Destroyer passes through the atmosphere of Kalin-ewa into its dark green sky, before setting itself down on a massive landing pad on the outskirts of a city, known simply as the Capital. We pull out and reveal yet another hidden figure, this time wearing the uniform of a low class restaurant worker. He speaks into his comlink and informs a contact that the First Order have arrived, before he turns to walk away and we realize this man is... Poe Dameron!

Returning to the Eternal, we watch as the blue man walks down an enormous ramp with his Captain standing by his side and Darius struggling to lead the way and talk at the same time. Around thirty Stormtroopers appear to be escorting them. Darius informs the blue man that he would like them to feel welcome on Kalin-ewa but insists that the First Order not stay long; they cannot afford to make an enemy out of the remnants of the Republic (we are not sure of why yet).

Meanwhile, Poe sneaks into a dirty looking restaurant where he sees Finn (FN-2187) sitting on a stool by the bar, reading a holo-book. Poe quickly approaches him and pats him on the back, before telling him that they need to get off of Kalin-ewa now; as Poe has told Finn, the First Order have arrived and their mission to make discreet contact is now over. Finn is reluctant at first, but after some convincing, they leave to escape to the local star port.

Darius continues to lead the blue man through the city, and we learn that the blue man is none other than Admiral Thrawn, below only Supreme Leader Snoke and General Hux in the chain of command. Thrawn informs Darius casually that he has had all routes off of Kalin-ewa blocked so that he can have his troopers search the area for Resistance troops, as they are a frequent menace. Darius struggles to resist but is quickly cut off.

This new set up by Thrawn turns up to be a trouble for Finn and Poe because as they try to enter their Vessel - the Millennium Falcon (!), they are stopped by ten Stormtroopers, all well armed. One of the Stormtroopers immediately recognises Finn as a traitor and begins to fire at the two men, and a fire fight breaks out between them all. The two separate forces quickly take cover - the Stormtroopers behind the Falcon, and Finn and Poe behind some crates. They take out around four of the troopers but are too outnumbered to have any chance of winning...

...Until Chewbacca arrives from inside the Falcon and fires his bowcaster at the bewildered troops, causing an explosion that kills them all! Chewbacca growls aggressively so Finn apologises for the pair taking so long to get back to the ship. Poe asks Chewie whether the Falcon is fired up and ready to take off, and Chewie growls an affirmative. The trio quickly enters the ship.

We pull out to view the Falcon from a distance, where the Mandalorian in green armour sits watching them, with a pair of advanced binoculars focused on the ship. We hear him sigh before he attaches the binoculars back on his belt and activates his jet-pack, shooting away back towards the Capital.

Meanwhile, Thrawn arrives in the negotiating room with Darius where he comfortably takes a seat and once again casually informs Darius that General Hux is on his ways with the documents to solidify the deal that Kalin-ewa is about to make; there is no escape from the grips of the First Order now, and Darius will have to do what the First Order likes.

Darius asks Thrawn why he will do such a thing, but before Thrawn can answer, one of the Stormtroopers fires a weapon that leaves a dart in Darius's neck, causing him to become dizzy. Thrawn explains to Darius that he has just been struck by a dart that has been designed to reprogram his brain, meaning that when he wakes up from the sleep he is about to fall into, he will do all the First Order asks him to. Darius asks what this may be, so Thrawn informs him that it will be the total blockade of the inner core of the galaxy. Darius then passes out.

We watch the Falcon take off into the atmosphere of Kalin-ewa, but it is immediately stalked by about six TIE-Fighters. Poe, who is piloting the ship with Chewie, is able to swing the ship around the TIE-Fighters and take them out one by one; in this great action sequence, Poe makes it look easy. However, the Falcon is unexpectedly shot by yet another TIE-Fighter, and it begins to spiral down.

Inside the cockpit, we see that Finn is trying not to panic as Poe and Chewie struggle for the controls. BB-8 and R2-D2, who we discover have been on this ship for the whole mission, converse casually with each other as if nothing is going on. Knowing that the ship is going down, Poe orders R2 to revert all power to the shields so that the Falcon has minimum damage when it crashes down and so that it cannot be damaged any more by TIE-Fighters.

We again watch the Falcon from above, this time from the perspective of the flying Mandalorian, as the ship collides with a tall building below and shatters it, causing brick and metal to spray in all directions. The Falcon makes contact with the surface of Kalin-ewa and scrapes across it, causing sparks to erupt as the ship takes even more damage. The Mandalorian watches in surprise before he turns and shoots off towards the Capital.

It is in these moments that we fade to Rey, sitting before billowing flames wearing dark robes and a hood concealing most of her head. Her eyes are shut and she is confronted by the dark of the night, with only the flames as a source of light. We see that she is deep in meditation. Suddenly, the flames stop dancing - turn into screams - and we see Rey's eyes flutter open to reveal great fear. She has just had a dream.

The flames dance once more as Rey climbs to her feet and travels across the grassy surface towards hundreds of rocky steps. She begins to climb them, but we cut to watch her reach the touch. The robe still conceals most of her, so we cannot see the true tiredness she is feeling spread across her features, but her body shape tells us she is worried.

Rey continues onwards until she reaches the very peak of the island of Ahch-To, where a figure concealed in grey robes stands in front of yet another fire. He pulls back his hood - in a way very reminiscent of the closing moments of 'The Force Awakens' - to reveal Luke Skywalker. Luke turns to face Rey so Rey lets down her hood. Luke looks at Rey simply and tells her to sit down with him, so she does so.

We cut to Kylo Ren sitting before a circle of ashes. His face is concealed by a new dark mask, similar to the one he wore in the first of the trilogy but closer in design to Darth Vader's. He, too, is in deep meditation, as we can see by his crossed legs and arms. Suddenly, the ashes before him begin to swirl around like they are at the heart of a tornado and we hear the exact same screams from Rey's vision.

Unlike Rey, Ren refuses to awake from his slumber as the ashes of his victims consume him and coat him. The screams get louder as Ren continues to meditate, until they slowly fade away. Eventually the ashes settle and Ren takes off his mask to reveal the scarred face of Ben Solo. His eyes slowly open to reveal a look of extreme concentration. From somewhere out of shot, we hear the voice of Snoke telling Ren to embrace the evil that he has just felt and let it guide him; it is the path to anguish, and anguish is the path to power...

Back on Kalin-ewa, Thrawn and an escort of Stormtroopers march through the Throne Palace casually, with Thrawn reading datapads checking that everything is in order for General Hux's arrival. Suddenly, his Captain launches towards him down the corridor, slight panic taking over his features. The Captain informs Thrawn that the Resistance ship known as the Millennium Falcon has crash landed through a tower complex. Thrawn orders the Captain to send in armed troops and TIE-Fighters immediately, in case there are any survivors.

In the meantime, Finn wakes up inside the Falcon to find BB-8 rolling around him and R2 checking the ship status. Poe is knocked out, with his head smashed against the panel and bleeding heavily. Chewbacca is tending him. Finn wakes Poe up and they realize that they will have to leave the Falcon behind in order to escape. They quickly make for the exit with their droids and breach the air to find themselves among-

-rubble and Stormtroopers! A battle begins between them all as the crew tries to dash away from the Falcon but the First Order troops try to stop them from doing so. Eventually, the crew is able to overpower the Stormtroopers, but not before leaving behind a mass of rubble and bodies. They begin to run as the whine of TIE-Fighters is heard overhead, approaching fast. Suddenly, they all jump to the side in time to miss darts of green!

Now in the streets of the Capital, Poe and Finn cut off from Chewbacca and the droids, hoping to create a diversion so that Chewbacca can make it back to the spaceport and hijack a ship. Finn and Poe launch into what turns out to be a casino, where they are confronted by angry gamblers. Moments later, five Stormtroopers burst in, firing without mercy. They kill civilians, so a riot breaks out, giving Finn and Poe a chance to escape through the other exit.

Launching through the door, they are confronted by a landspeeder - beautiful and blue - attached to metallic safe guards. Poe is about to hi-jack the speeder when the owner of the speeder emerges through the door. Ignoring Poe and Finn, the owner deactivates the safe guards and throws himself inside, beginning to drive away just as a Stormtrooper emerges. Finn shoots the Stormtrooper whilst Poe switches his gun to stun and shoots the driver.

Finn and Poe launch inside the speeder and throw out the stunned driver, before beginning their desperate drive away. We pan out again to reveal the Mandalorian watching from above, blaster in hand poised as he considers shooting the pair. He eventually lets the blaster drop and we see that he has made a crucial decision as he launches off in the direction of the spaceport.