Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters.
Rating might change to M in later chapters.
There will be some slight deviations from Canon: Han and Finn are more severely injured during the battle on Maz Kanata's planet in this story than they were in the movie, and Starkiller Base hasn't been used yet.
Chapter One: The Plan
Leia Organa poured over the reports on her desk. With a heavy sigh she turned the page. No matter how hard she tried to focus, her brain refused to absorb the information. The reports were far from interesting, yet they were a necessary part of being a General. And unfortunately, recently focusing had become increasingly difficult.
She had become a general in an attempt to forget about what happened. Desperately hoping that overworking would keep her brain occupied. For a while it had worked, and she had been able to shut out the piercing pain that came with thoughts of him. Yet recently he had become more active in the First Order.
She closed her eyes as her thoughts flashed back to the first time she had read a report with her sons name in it. "No" she told herself "His name is Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren." She had locked herself in her room for a solid 24 hours, she did not want the other rebels to see just how much her son's actions had damaged her. If the rebels became discouraged all hope would be lost, and as a general it was up to her to keep the atmosphere positive.
Yet she did not think she would ever get used to seeing "Kylo Ren" on the reports. She had considered telling the rebels to refer to him by his real name: Ben Solo. But she had decided against it. Firstly because hearing the others refer to Ben Solo as the enemy would be unbearable. And also because she was not ready for all the rebels to know.
There were rumours of course, it was no secret that her son had gone rogue. Even those in the outer rim knew of Luke's disappearance. The fact that his own student had turned against him was less well-known, the fact that the student in question was their General's son was a well-kept secret.
She had never publicly announced that Ben Solo had taken up the mantle of Kylo Ren. She knew she owed it to the rebels to tell them. Yet she still held hope in her heart that one day Ben would return to her. If the rebels knew that he was Kylo Ren, he would never be welcomed here.
Leaning back in her chair Leia rubbed her eyes tiredly. Letting them sweep through the room another wave of sadness overtook her. Her offices used to be decorated with pictures of family and friends; yet her current chambers were cold. The people dearest to her were either dead, gone, or lost. She did not want to be reminded of that every day by putting up their pictures.
Forcing her thoughts away from her family she gripped the report with determination. The reason this report was particularly difficult for her to accept is that it involved her son kidnapping the girl, Rey. On top of that he had caused both the Stormtrooper and Han Solo significant damage. Both of them were currently in the medical wing. Whilst both of them were stable, no one knew for sure how long it would be until either of them were discharged.
The report described an event that had returned Han Solo to her, yet never before had her son felt further away from her. The report said it, in taunting square letters:
Kylo Ren force blasted Han Solo against a tree. Inflicting injuries of currently unknown severity.
If Ben had felt no remorse for injuring his father, what would keep him from doing the same to his mother? - No. she stopped herself, there was still hope. She had never been a true practitioner of the Jedi ways. But she was sensitive to the Force regardless. She simply knew that there was still light in Ben. As long as that light was there, it was possible that he might return home.
Her eyes had barely finished skimming the first page when a hesitant knock sounded on her door.
"Enter." She said absentmindedly. Her eyes moved from the report to the heavy door and took in the boy that had appeared in the doorway. He was young, definitely no older than Ben. He was scrawny and looked like puberty was taking its time with him. She wondered what Ben looked like now, would he have started to shave? Han had told her that it had taken a long time before he had started to grow facial hair. She wondered if his voice had broken and what it sounded like now…
"Commander Rex is calling an emergency meeting. We have new information on the First Order's new base." The boy said, he was trying to be confident but the signs of nervosity were shining through his voice. "He asked me to escort you there."
She nodded at the boy, trying to keep the agony out of her eyes. "Thank you." She had not yet changed out of her uniform and, with a glance at the mirror across the room, decided that she looked presentable. "I will come with you immediately."
The boy looked relieved at that and stated:"Right, follow me please General."
Her feet carried her through the halls of the base. The boy looked like he would faint if she tried to strike a conversation. She might have tried to comfort him if her mind had been in a different place. As it was, it took all she had to get into General-mode.
Once the boy had led her to the meeting room she noticed that she was likely the last one to arrive. Commander Rex looked relieved to see her, and she sent a nod his way.
"Good you could join us on such short notice, General." He said warmly. Then, his expression turned more solemn and he continued "We have obtained new information on the size and functions of the so-called Starkiller Base."
"Why are we so worried. It's just another Death Star." One of the younger recruits said confidently, then, with a grin to the elderly rebels:"I hear you have some experience with destroying those."
Some of the younger rebels grinned excitedly. She wondered if they had ever been in a real battle. Ben had been in many battles of course. Her heart ached to see him standing there with the young recruits, as a virgin to the horrors of war.
Commander Rex looked far from excited. With a push on the screen in front of him a familiar hologram of the Death Star appeared in the centre of the meeting room.
"This was the Death Star." Commander Rex stared.
"And this…" Commander Rex spoke solemnly "…This is Starkiller Base" as he said the words an imposing hologram showed up next to the Death Star. A collective gasp went through the room as a wave of shock and despair swept through the room. The Death Star seemed minuscule in comparison to this new evil base. Her brain could not begin to fathom the damage Starkiller Base would be able to inflict.
Her heart felt heavy in her chest. Her eyes were sticking to the hologram and it seemed impossible to tear them away. She was not alone; an eery silence hung in the room. The significance of Starkiller base was not lost on her fellow rebels. It was likely that the base would have the power to destroy planets; and everything on them. In other words, the base might very well mean the end of the rebellion.
But for Leia the base held a different danger. The thought of who was most likely walking through the halls of the base made her heart cry out in pain. Her lost son…
"Fortunately for us, construction of the base had been halted temporarily and the base is not fully operational yet. Unfortunately, it's defences are active and in prime condition. At worst we have three months before the base will be ready for use. And there is not a thought in my mind that the First Order will use this weapon as soon as they can."
"General Organa?"
Leia's thoughts were interrupted. Heavily she tore her eyes away from the base. In an attempt to compose herself she ran her hands over her pants to smoothen them out whilst straightening her back. No matter how she felt, making sure the rebels did not lose hope was vital. There was simply no room for an emotional breakdown now.
"Do you think there is a way to destroy Starkiller Base?"
She knew there was away, there simply had to be. As she racked her brain for a solution another, younger recruit spoke up confidently:"There has to be a way."
Leia saw no point in lying, and with heavy heart she spoke:"We had more knowledge of the layout and weaknesses of the Death Stars. Without knowing those it will be next to impossible to impose any relevant damage."
Turning to Commander Rex she continued:"What do we know about the design of this base?"
Commander Rex heaved a sigh. Commander Rex was young for a Commander, yet as he spoke he looked older than he had ever looked. Apparently even the younger recruits noticed his change in demeanour, as their grins fell off their faces.
"I am afraid our knowledge is very limited. It appears that the First Order had learned from the Empire's mistakes. We have some knowledge of how Starkiller Base operates and how it obtains its power. Yet realistically I see no way to destroy it."
Silence hung through the room for a few seconds as Commander Rex was lost in his thoughts:"The only way we might be able to inflict damage is if we find a way to lower the shields. But seeing as there is no way to lower those from the outside the situation is bleak. In order to lower the shields we would need someone with insider information, or an actual insider. There is some chance that the Stormtrooper who has converted to our side- "
"-Finn, his name is Finn." Poe Dameron interrupted. He held up his hands in defence when General Rex shot him a look. Undeterred by this, Poe shrugged and said:"Just thought you ought to know."
"Anyway" Commander Rex continued "Finn might have valuable information. But as it is, he is in a medically induced coma and we don't know how much information he will be able to provide us with yet."
Looking at the defeated faces in the room filled her with sadness. There had to be a way to fix this. They had been fighting against the dark side for so long…
She racked her brain for a solution, yet none presented itself to her. As she glanced around the room she noticed that the other rebels had turned to look at her hopefully. She took a breath in order to steady her voice:"We will further explore the possibilities and meet again in two days time to discuss the definite course of action. Remember, we have faced worse threats and we have managed to overcome them. There is still hope. Let's all retire to our quarters to process this new information."
Whilst the others looked slightly less defeated than before, the lack of a concrete plan still hung over the room like a heavy blanket. She fought to keep her face steady until everybody but Commander Rex had left the room.
They stood side by side in silence. The hologram of Starkiller Base loomed in the room and two pairs of eyes were staring at it intently. Leia found her own eyes sticking to the hologram like it would magically present them with the solution to their predicament, and she could tell that Commander Rex was doing the same. She could hardly imagine the sheer size of the base. Her mind wandered to thoughts of how many Stormtroopers the base held, thoughts of Stormtroopers turned into thoughts of who commanded the base, and those thoughts turned into thoughts of him.
Leia's mouth betrayed her; and the words had left it before she had time to take them back:"There is someone we know on Starkiller Base…" She had mumbled the words to herself. It had been a thought that had somehow slipped through her lips.
General Rex's head shot up at her words:"You can't possibly mean-" Leia interrupted him softly:"Yes, yes that is exactly who I mean."
And the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it was the only way. They needed someone inside the base. Someone with the knowledge and power to stop the weapon from being employed. They needed her son.
"There is still light in him. I just know it." She said with determination. Her eyes met the doubtful eyes of Commander Rex.
"It is the only way. Without insider help or information it is impossible to infiltrate Starkiller Base to disable the shields. And without disabling the shields it will be impossible to get within firing distance of the base." Leia stated. "If we can only bring him home, show him that he has a home and that he is loved he will return to the light. I am his mother, Ceto."
She knew there was nothing Commander Rex could tell her now to change her mind. They were going to bring Ben Solo home, whether he liked it or not.
