Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/13535448.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      Gen
  Fandom:
      Star_Wars_Sequel_Trilogy
  Relationship:
      Snoke_&_Kylo_Ren
  Character:
      Snoke_(Star_Wars), Kylo_Ren
  Additional Tags:
      Canon_Rewrite, Backstory_Rewrite, snoke_backstory, POV_First_Person, POV
      Snoke, War, Bombings, Child_Abuse, Sexual_Abuse, Childhood_Sexual_Abuse,
      Past_Sexual_Abuse, Past_Rape/Non-con, Physical_Abuse
  Series:
      Part 24 of Star_Wars_Rewrites_—_Backstory
  Stats:
      Published: 2018-01-31 Updated: 2018-03-21 Chapters: 3/? Words: 1445
****** Snoke: A Star Wars Story ******
by idrilhadhafang
Summary
     For years, the story of Supreme Leader Snoke has been hidden from the
     galaxy. It’s only on the devastated planet of Milara that it is
     revealed to Snoke’s new apprentice, Kylo Ren.
Notes
     Disclaimer: I own nothing.
***** Prelude: Milara *****
The two figures who walked the wastelands of the planet Milara were the only
two thus far in the ruins of devastation. They were two figures — a figure in
armor that would have called to mind the former Sith Lord Darth Revan, and a
tall, bony figure, pale and almost skeleton-like, dressed in gold robes that
fell to his feet. The latter figure looked around Milara, taking it in for the
first time since he had left it for the Unknown Regions.
“Milara.” The figure, Snoke, spoke, his rumbling voice softer in that moment,
almost wistful. “It’s been years since I set foot on her surface.”
The figure in armor, Kylo Ren, looked around. “Has it?”
“Yes. Ah.” Snoke crouched down, plucked a flower from the ground. He stood up,
examining it with a sort of interest, his face softening a bit. “Life. Even in
the wake of devastation, there can be pieces of beauty to be found, don’t you
think?”
Kylo Ren tilted his head.
“It’s what the First Order is preserving. A better future. Balance. All this,
all of it free from the restraints and corruption of the past.” Snoke sighed.
“A pity the Resistance doesn’t see that, but logic is not their specialty, I am
afraid.”
“Nor other things,” said Kylo Ren.
Snoke turned to look at his apprentice. “I suppose I might as well tell you
everything,” he said. “Of all the beings I can tell, you are the best
candidate, so that you may not repeat these mistakes in the future. So that we
may not repeat these mistakes in the future. It began, as ever, with war...”
***** Beyond the Fires *****
Chapter Summary
     Snoke begins his tale. It doesn’t have a happy beginning.
Chapter Notes
     Disclaimer: I own nothing.
You’re wondering why I began with a war. It’s because it started, as ever, with
war.
And you’re wondering why I began with my early years. After all, few beings
want to hear about such things. But they are integral, I assure you. When I was
born, I was born to a war-torn Milara, which was caught in a civil war between
two factions: the Loyalists and the Progressivists. The Progressivists were led
by the terrorist Venkar, who sought to reshape Milara in his image, even if it
meant burning it down.
It was that world I was born into. Even from an early age, I knew, I simply
knew, that we were far away from the Republic. They wouldn’t have bothered to
help us. If it wasn’t the trivialities of the rich and powerful, they couldn’t
be bothered.
***
“They are indeed hypocrites,” Kylo Ren said.
“To say the least.” Snoke’s voice was layered with disgust. “They squabble like
tu’kata over raw meat, yet they barely bother to help those who need it most.
And if that is what your mother seeks to preserve, I wonder what that says
about her?”
“She always was a fool.”
“Your mother always sought to preserve corruption,” Snoke said. “Why else do
you think she joined the Rebellion? To restore the Republic, of course. To
restore disorder and corruption. Of course, at nineteen, she was brainwashed,
and I doubt it might have been a stretch that she carried it into her older
years. What is the phrase? Old habits die hard.” A beat. “It is fortunate,
then, that you broke free of the brainwashing.”
“Yes.” Then, “What happened to you?”
***
I ran, Kylo Ren.
I ran so very far.
When the bombs dropped, my family was killed, but not before they shouted for
me to run. “Get out of the house, Aldric,” they said. “Save yourself.”
Yes, my name was Aldric. Names are far from important, though, I would say.
Names are relics of the past that are unimportant to the future. No one
remembers Dessel the miner or Alek the orphan, but they do remember Darth Bane
and Darth Malak, do they not? You’ll get to understand the poor foolish stupid
boy, and why I had to destroy him, soon enough.
I ran. I can remember the explosions of bombs going off behind me, and the
smoke that stained the sky. Eventually, I reached the orphanage.
The orphanage was a cruel place, but for the moment, I thought I, being a child
of five in human years, would be safe there. I believe all younglings believe
that — after all, it is the job of those older than them to offer guidance and
shelter.
I had no idea that my suffering, or should I say Aldric’s, had just begun.
***** Living Hell *****
Chapter Summary
     Snoke’s first major secret is revealed.
Chapter Notes
     Disclaimer: I own nothing.
     Author’s Notes: We’re about to get into some really triggering
     content. You have been warned. In terms of why I took the direction I
     did for Snoke, one thing I noticed in my research is that beings like
     Snoke come from usually abusive origins. I thought it was something
     worth exploring, what makes someone like Snoke who they are.
“What happened to you?” Kylo Ren said.
Snoke took a deep breath. “We’re about to enter territory that I doubt you’ve
been to before,” he said. “I told you of Milara’s suffering, but nothing of
what went on in the orphanage. And there is good reason for that. Such
things...addressing when I was vulnerable is far from a desirable thing. I
would not have stayed in the orphanage if I had a better place to go. And
eventually, I found a better place to go.”
“Supreme Leader, I am sorry.”
“I do not say this for the sake of pity, Kylo Ren. I say it because of all the
things you must understand — why we do what we do is most important. Of the
utmost importance, for that matter.”
“I would never betray you.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Snoke said. “You are loyal to the last, after all. But
this is bigger than loyalty.” He took a deep breath. “Others would never have
understood, truly, why I do what I do. Maz Kanata didn’t. Yoda didn’t. I can
only hope you do.”
“Tell me.” Kylo said, and Snoke, feeling like he had been stabbed in the ribs,
nodded.
***
The orphanage was far from a happy place. There were those there who did the
best they could to make it right, but others were sadists, plain and simple.
And one of them took a special interest in me. Asha was her name, and she was
my only abuser. When she was angry, that was accentuated even more.
***

Snoke made a fist in that moment, and it was there that Kylo Ren’s head tilted.
Looking at the burns from the plasma torch, a testament to the abuse that he
had suffered within the orphanage.
“This was what Asha gave me,” Snoke said, and even speaking, he could feel the
old anger — the anger that he hadn’t been allowed to express as a youngling,
but which bubbled up too prominently right now. “She was...not a kindly woman.”
“Obviously.” Kylo Ren’s voice was soft in that moment. “I am sorry. She should
not have done that to you.”
“She is dead now. But I will get to that in time.”
***
It would have been bad enough if she had hit and burned. But there were...other
things she did. Things where when the body has endured the maximum amount of
pain it can take, it shoves it aside. I did not recall these memories until I
returned to Milara to free it. It is truly amazing how much the mind can find
ways to forget when the body is brutalized beyond what it can bear.
Asha, you see...no, I am all right. As I was saying, Asha found...ways of
torturing me as a child. She found candles, for example. Candles and
vibroblades. She used her fingers, objects — and it was always at night when
others could mistake the screams for help for Aldric talking in his sleep.
Yes, Kylo Ren, that...waste of skin violated me. I don’t remember everything
she did, but I know that my body bears the residuals. Scars, sensations, plenty
more. For six years I was raped and tortured again and again, and the orphanage
did nothing.
***
Kylo looked at him. “Where were the other workers while this vile woman was
doing what she did?”
“I do not know,” Snoke said. “It’s remarkable how one can choose to turn a
blind eye. I also remember, vividly, what she told me.” A pause. “She said that
if I ever told a soul, even by accident, they would never find my corpse. And I
believed her. Being the youngling I was, and knowing her sadism, I believed
her.”
“I’m sorry,” Kylo said. “It never should have happened to you.”
“It is...unexpected you say that. I doubt anyone’s told me that before, though
I never told a soul. I forgot. When your body’s subjected to violation and
violence at a young age, you have to. And then there was the shame that came
with it.”
“It was her fault, not yours.” Kylo paused. “You don’t have to tell me more if
you don’t wish to, Supreme Leader.”
“I do,” Snoke said. “So you can understand.”
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