THE MASTER CALLS - Enter our Heroes -
Fear. Anger. Hatred. Master Skywalker taught them that all led to suffering. The three increasing paths of the Dark Side of the Force, as he himself was taught by Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan; were fraught with great harm upon the self, upon others who we care for, and ultimately for the galaxy itself. These were lessons that Ben Solo remembered, and disregarded as little more than the ramblings of a teacher – an uncle – far too weak and afraid, ashamed of his great heritage.
A heritage of power and purpose.
Of significance.
Of conscience.
These things, young Ben Solo found in the deeper parts of the Jedi Temple, the relics of the Sith recovered with the help of Lando Calrissian and Han Solo’s associates from his days as a smuggler during the dark times. They ranged from holocrons, recovered Sith weaponry and relics of the Dark Side; kept under strict watch by the Republic Security Officers – which were known by the epithet of Temple Prowlers – the blue-uniformed men and women who sported the familiar rebel ellipse helmet but coloured yellow, and sporting a faceless, reflective facemask that gleamed and reflected any intruder. They weren’t force-sensitive, but they always patrolled in trios – a pair would conduct main duties of standard patrols while the third carried a backpack which house a Ysalamiri, the force-sensitive reptile which cancelled out Force powers.
The Temple Prowlers would guard the vaulted relics and remains of Sith past, until Master Skywalker would lead his students once a month to reflect and ruminate upon the nature of the Dark Side. Determined not to repeat the same mistakes the previous generation of Jedi did by being complacent, Luke Skywalker decided a controlled but guarded policy of study upon the nature of the Dark Side was necessary, as much as it was his responsibility to walk in the Light.
Ben was awakened out of his reverie as he stood In front of the main Massassi temple on Yavin IV, when he sensed a disturbance in the Force. A lifetime ago, his uncle, mother and father launched the successful strike against the Death Star from this place.
“Seems like you helped Rey escape, Ren.” The cocksure voice announced, betraying no small hint of animosity. Ben Solo turned round from his ruminations in front of the Massassi temple entrance only to be met with a swift punch that sent him reeling. He would have landed flat had he not used the force to prevent a less than flattering fall, stabilizing himself and greeted by Poe Dameron, the Stormtrooper deserter Finn and lastly, trailing behind but rushing forward and looking very worried, was-
“Rey-” Ben began, straightening himself as the trio faced against him, Finn and Poe cautious.
“We’re even now.” Dameron chided, his half-smile nothing more than a sneer. Ben frowned, looking at Finn and then to Rey once more. Rey moved forward to check on him, but Finn moved his hand forward, blocking her and shaking his head slightly, before his gaze returned to Ben.
“But he saved my life! We escaped Snoke and he helped me fight off the Guardsmen! He’s not Kylo Ren anymore!” Rey exclaimed.
Finn looked incredulous, the sensation of a lightsaber singing his back and spinal column fresh in his memory. Poe raised an eyebrow, skeptical that Kylo Ren – THE Kylo Ren – Jedi Killer that led the First Order from the Starkiller Base against the New Republic, turned tail and gave it all up just to return to the fold.
“Come on, you don’t expect us to believe you’re really reformed. It’s gonna take a lot more than high-stakes rescue from an enemy flagship and you returning our lady friend here to us in one piece, which – I might add – you did with the help of that mean piece of machinery over there.” Poe put his hands on his hips, but gestured with his head in the direction of Ben’s TIE Silencer, landed in the shade among the jungle.
“Believe what you will.” Ben started, turning to walk back to his ship. “You know it’s true.”
He caught himself in his mind’s eye, realizing those were his father’s words, precious fleeting moments in time he remembers before running his lightsaber into Han Solo, and leaving him to die. He felt himself sick on his two feet, wanting to claw out his own innards and eyes for having done such a thing… but the grip of the Dark Side was strong, and as Master of the Knights of Ren – at the time – his duties, responsibilities… his hunger drove him ever onward, constantly seeking, wanting to improve upon, to control, to dominate.
No more.
“Hey! HEY! Where do you think you’re going Kylo?!” Poe yelled after Ben, as Finn tried to warn him against it.
“Uh… Poe… I don’t think you should go after him-” Poe managed to grab Ben by the shoulder and spin him round, but before he could land another punch to faze Ben, Poe found himself frozen in place, the creeping realization that he was in a force grip that prevented him from doing anything. Poe stared defiantly and willed his arms and legs to move but just like the first time he met Kylo Ren, he was powerless. Ben Solo had his hand outstretched, and Rey drew her lightsaber – his grandfather’s lightsaber – while Finn had drawn a blaster on his former Dark Lord.
“I deserved that first punch.” Ben said flatly, looking at Poe, into him. “You won’t get a second chance. Not against me, not against Kylo Ren… but I’m leaving. A great danger is coming and I may be the only one who can stop it.” Poe saw it in the Dark Lord’s eyes. There was no menace or malice in them, and his voice rang true. Those were the words of someone with belief, with affirmation and purpose. A bearing of roughshod nobility, with a hint that it he had touched something dark, primal, and had regretted it forever.
“You…” Poe began, as Ben looked between him, Rey and Finn. Ben Solo regarded him for a moment, before continuing back to his ship.
“What are you talking about, Ben? You don’t have to do anything alone anymore, we’re with you. Luke told me everything, that the Dark Side twists people into things that they’re not-” Rey started, wanting to help her friend as held back Finn from firing off his blaster and hurting Ren, despite their previous animosity, or current one notwithstanding. Finn and Poe managed to look at each other in shared confusion.
“…Ben?” they both started.
“That’s your name?”
“After the Jedi Knight Ben Kenobi, who safeguarded my uncle Luke Skywalker. Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
Ben replied. Finn was livid, he had heard the stories of Obi-Wan Kenobi help sabotage the Death Star during his childhood and the First Order indoctrination and propaganda, painting Ben Kenobi as a hook-nosed, lecherous saboteur who crippled the mighty Darth Vader, and was the reason he was encased in his ebon armor. Finn knew better now, but was still reeling from the implication as much as Poe did.
Poe’s eyes widened as he realized that this was the late general Organa’s son, and his inspiration for being a pilot, Han Solo. Nevermind that their son was the psychopath Jedi that killed all the others and went to the far side of the galaxy and returned leading the First Order terrorist movement against the Republic. His own superiors’ and inspiration’s flesh and blood were responsible for their deaths, yet here he was playing – acting – the hero, and Poe could almost believe him.
“Enough of this.” Ben said, and let Poe free from the Force freeze. Wheezing, Poe staggered back as Finn and Rey caught him.
“I have to go Ahch-To. Although we agreed to rendezvous on Yavin IV so I could return Rey to you unharmed, every second I remain here puts the Republic – the Galaxy – in even more danger.”
Finn and Rey argue that Ben doesn't need to talk in riddles, and it would be far easier if he trust them, just as they were willing to risk it all with how Rey believed in him, and so did his uncle Luke Skywalker. “Speaking of Luke Skywalker, why are you going to Ahch-To? Weren’t you obsessed with the place when you were Kylo Ren?” Finn said, unsure of where this was leading to.
Rey looked at him expectantly and Poe recovered, dusting himself off. Ben wore a pained expression, his mouth in a grim line, unsure of what to say. He was about to explain when there was a roar from behind Poe, Finn and Rey, and Chewbacca was charging straight towards Ben, on a warpath, bellowing angrily.
“Chewie no, NO!” Finn and Poe tried in vain to stop Chewbacca, but were knocked aside as if they were Dejarik pieces, and Rey tried to use the Force to keep Chewbacca at bay, but he simply steamrolled forward and nearly flattened her had the Wookie not given her a backhanded strike that sent her staggering back.
Ben was dumbstruck, but made no move to defend himself. As the Chewbacca bore down on him, Ben raised his arm, stretching his hand out slightly and looked straight into the Wookie’s jet-black eyes.
"Chewie. It’s me.”
The jungle dropped to a deafening silence, pierced by the milliseconds of the returning sounds of birds and chittering wildlife, and the groans of Finn, Poe and Rey as they shook off the feeling of a Frigate ramming into them from hyperspace. Not that it was possible anyway. From the considerable distance, Rey heard C-3PO exclaim loudly from the open ramp of the Millennium Falcon.
“Oh my goodness! I can’t believe it! It’s Master Ben, returned from the Knights that spirited him away all those years ago!”
Rey saw that Chewbacca stood in front of Ben, and she saw the young boy that he was, the weight of responsibility bearing down upon him from great heroes but without having anyone of his equal, his peer, to understand the frustrations of decorum, of appearances, of restraint. Young Ben only had the droids and the Wookie amid a Galaxy trying to rebuild itself, and was thrust into accepting a role he never had a say in or a choice in the matter. Rey blinked again, and Ben Solo the man reached for Chewbacca’s arm, fighting back tears.
“I’m… I’m sorry Chewie.” He began to choke, and wiped his tears away fiercely on his sleeve, staining his felt tunic. “I’m… so sorry…” Gone was the air of fixated superiority, of appearances and the lust for power. Ben Solo retreated from everyone again, not wanting to be seen as weak, but found the arms of his friend Chewbacca around him, holding him once more.
Rey heaved a sigh of relief as Poe and Finn limped towards her, their faces a strange mix of pain and relief. Poe spoke first. “W-well. Since we managed to recover you, our ladyship, I think it’s time we returned to the Resistance… we’ll need the Scavenger who fought Supreme Leader Snoke and helped cripple the Supremacy.” Rey beamed, grateful to be in the company of people who wanted her around, and not simply because she could get them things that they would barter and sell away for their profit. “Thank you Poe, but I don’t think I’m hardly anything close to real lady.” She began, as she regarded Finn.
“Real ladies are the kind like General Organa, or her mother, Queen Amidala. Snoke told me about her.” She remembered how Snoke tried to appeal to her missing lineage, that emptiness that she stood around on Jakku, kept going by a fragile promise. “…there’s a certain quiet strength about them, but they would never shy away when called to action…” she mused, trailing off as she realized that those were not her observations but Supreme Leader Snoke’s… and to her quiet horror, she realized that she believed in his views wholeheartedly, in the time she was captured and held aboard the First Order flagship. She knew Snoke was doing it only to reinforce Ben’s already fracturing persona of Kylo Ren, but deep down, she wanted to belong among them, the men and women of structure, purpose and order.
It felt… natural.
She shuddered, reaching out to Finn, the first friend she made on Jakku. He wore a look of concern, deepening with sorrow. Poe’s smile was wiped away by how disappointed Finn looked, and how quiet Rey became. Poe picked up on this, and decided to leave the two alone, sensing there was some deeper thing they needed to talk between themselves, and he needn’t be around. “I’ll… I’ll be back at the Falcon. Need to see if there’s any leakage or R2 needs help to repair… whatever it is that needs repairing.” Poe left first as 3PO appeared, excited at seeing his youngest charge.
“Oh! Oh my! Good heavens! What is going on here-” Poe strongarms 3PO back to the Falcon, knowing that both Ben Solo, Chewbacca, Finn and Rey have their own problems to iron out before they leave this historical backwater. “3PO, get the Resistance on the line, tell them we have Rey and Kylo Ren on retainer. If the Republic wants to take the fight to the First Order, tell ‘em we’re ready as long as they are.” 3PO spurts and sputters, but R2-D2 drives him to task as both Poe and 3PO board the Falcon, before being hailed by the Republic’s presiding statesman: Lando Calrissian.
Finn and Rey talk in the shadow of the jungle as they see Ben explaining to Chewbacca what had happened, how he had felt and what led him down the Dark Path that he regrets. Chewbacca asks question after question, of why Ben didn’t confide in ones such as himself, or C-3PO and R2-D2, if this is what he felt. Instead of letting it fester and rot him from within, he could have turned to Luke, or any of the other students like Kassida or Aruxul, or even the wandering rebel Ticayan, with his storm-hat and built his lightsaber with Ben’s assistance?
All of those who Chewbacca mentioned had level judgment and fair reasoning. They would not have turned him away, or snubbed him as he felt all his life. “I know…! I know… but…” Ben began, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation while he paced, giving Chewbacca the images of not just the younger Ben, but of his father, and how he would do the same in the time Chewbacca knew them both in his long, long and storied life. “I was young. Angry. Foolish.” Ben said, turning to Chewbacca and looking determined. “I know what I did wasn’t wrong. It was monstrous. Mother and Father would be furious if they were here… but-”
Chewbacca cut in, telling Ben that they only wanted him home. They never blamed him for his choices – only blamed themselves for not doing better for him, for not seeing the signs of Lord Snoke. Ben’s eyes flashed darkly, touching the edge of the dark when Chewbacca said that, and Chewbacca saw it in the returned Ben. It flashed for a moment – but only for a moment. “Chewie, I told Rey and her friends that I need to go back to Ahch-To. It’s important… I need to stop this while I can.”
Rey and Finn talk in the shade of the jungle, seeing Ben Solo make peace with the demons that drove him to darker depths and mend fences with his guardian and their friend, Chewbacca. But Rey senses how Finn’s emotions bubble in the presence – and in mentioning – either Ben or his previous persona, Kylo Ren.
“Finn…” she begins, and she finds this conversation painfully familiar, down to its location, in a jungle… almost having lived it before, despite not having any memory of it whatsoever. Finn manages a short grunt as a response, but Rey knows it was by no means out of rudeness. The Force was all around them, clear and bright. After a moment, she asked “...are you jealous of Ben being close to me?”
Finn was at a loss for words, having had the very words taken right out of his mouth. He wanted to say something, to lie and cover up, but Rey’s expression when she looked back at him was a complex one, in the range of amusement, of worry, and of being mildly insulted. Finn gulped and put his hand nervously behind his head. “W-ell…” he began, and Rey turned to look at both Ben and Chewbacca with the TIE Silencer in the background, looking strangely out of place in the whole picture. She let out an exasperated sigh. “Finn. On Jakku, we were lost, and we found each other. That’s no coincidence. When we fought against Kylo Ren-”
Rey felt Finn wince despite their comfortable distance from one another, and saw a flash of when he sustained injuries at the hands of his lightsaber. She shut her eyes tightly and fought back the sensation she felt. What he felt. In her defense when she was out cold. Before Luke Skywalker appeared and duelled with his wayward nephew in that winter chill. “-I’m sorry. I didn’t realize- Finn… I feel the Force around you, your pain, it doesn’t have to be this way-!”
“You keep saying that Rey!” Finn started, slightly loud that Ben and Chewbacca looked over as Ben said he needed to return to Ahch-To. “You don’t realize that you’ve been saying that to everyone?! When we evacuated the Resistance base, when we split up and you told me to get General Organa to safety, and then you were captured and the General got blown up…” Rey looked hurt, scared. It was the first time she saw the taciturn and controlled soldier that was Finn lose his cool and say what was on his mind.
“Every single person we’ve met! Poe, General Organa, Han Solo! Wexley! Even Kylo Ren himself! It’s the same thing every time! The Force guides me, it shapes our destiny, and everything will be alright!” Rey took in the sight of Finn;s emotions fluctuating, and she saw the wild force flailing about him, out of sync and confused, thrashing.
She thought to herself that the time with her and the Resistance has finally helped him be more human than trained solider, but this is not what she expected. “Master Skywalker who reinforced the ideas of that energy field that shapes us for you helped you a lot, but look what the Force has done for us! It’s taken away everyone we knew and cared for!”
Rey became quiet. Uneasy. Uncomfortable. “It’s…” Finn began, frustrated at the death and loss that followed them, surrounded them. “Rey… if the Force has awakened like you and Master Skywalker said it has… why does it seem to just clear the deck? Restacking the cards?” It was Ben’s turn to grow quiet now. Both he and Rey became silent shadows, reflecting against both the words Finn said, and in the dual reflections of the Force.
In both the light and the dark.
Ashla and Bogan.
“Ah.” Both Rey and Ben’s eyes snap open, Rey jerking up on her feet and Ben recoiling, taking a step back from the entities they touched when they reflected upon the words of the frustrated and fearful Stormtrooper. Finn and Chewbacca sensed it too, and they looked at Rey and Ben as Scavenger and former Master of the Knights of Ren knew what it was.
Who they were.
“Uncle…!” Ben stared, wide-eyed, transfixed in place as he saw the scene unfolding before him.
“…Snoke…!” Rey gasped, watching the empty air but at rapt attention, her view of the same series of events that was happening now even as they saw it.
“Someone tell me what’s going on?!” Poe exclaimed, rushing to them from the Falcon with C-3PO and R2-D2, the Force even touching him with its disturbance. “You heard me, get to spilling the-”
Ben Solo replied to his once-enemy with fear in his eyes.
“I told you I have to leave.” He began, motioning to Rey to stay here with her friends.
“My uncle needs my help.” Rey moves closer to him and brandishes Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, adamant that she go with him. "-our help."
