Chapter 1: The Evaluation pt 1
A/C: I own nothing of the Star Wars places, names and stuff used in this. This is set in the time just after Allies of the Fate of the Jedi Series.
Meteor explosions are quite spectacular. However when faced by imminent destruction by such an explosion, Ben no longer thought they deserved such praise. The meteor was inevitably going to hit the ship, but there was still time to create the best chance of survival as possible. So Ben and Vestara were rushing to the side of the ship and would prepare the force shields in the three minutes remaining. Now two minutes. Ben contemplated the fact that if only Vestara hadn't needed so much time in their medical bay recovering, then they wouldn't be in this mess. Or he would have if he wasn't too distracted by the meteor now one minute away.
Luke was piloting, trying to navigate the ship into the best position so that most of the meteor missed them, as well as trying to put up the shields. Blast, Luke thought, if only I'd paid more attention to Han on repairing shields. Their battle with Abeloth had damaged them, and now he had mere seconds to reactivate them. But it only takes a small break in the outer hull and all oxygen would be vented into outer space. Then they would suffocate to death. Luke shuddered at the thought of such a slow death.
By now Vestara and Ben were at the point of impact and had set up the force barriers. Vestara abruptly looked up at Ben and smiled.
"Good luck." Vestara said all too competitively. Ben couldn't help thinking about how everything to these Sith seemed like another challenge, and how they thought nothing could go wrong. So naïve, Ben thought. The look on Bens face contrasted immensely. His was of complete concentration and determination.
And then it hit. The force of it on the ship alone blew both Vestara and Ben back, their heads knocking against the durasteel with a painfully loud thud, and they were knocked unconscious. Thankfully Luke had activated the ray shields in-time and the blast hadn't damaged the ship in any way. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the two 16 year olds lying on the floor, a small trickle of blood washing out the back of Ben's skull, and a deep cut on Vestara's forehead.
"This is Luke to Ben; please respond on the condition of the hull of the ship,' Luke called over on the ships comm, 'please respond. Ben. BEN." Luke's voice raised as his worry grew. Ripping off the comm-link he rushed to see what had happened.
When he got there he was repulsed at the sight. They were both lying in a pile of thick oozing blood. Telekinetically picking them up through the force he rushed them to the medical bay.
Speedily he hooked them both up before checking the life signs. Thankfully they were both stable. Luke fell onto the chair behind him relief washing over him. He sank deeper into the chair and was just seconds from sleep when he noticed the Brainwave monitor was going haywire. It said that Ben and Vestara were both awake, but clearly they weren't. Reaching out in the force he could feel their presence, and they were both alert like they were awake. But they were cut off from him, like contact with the outside world had been severed, and he could feel a presence that was presenting the barrier. It wasn't ominous, but it was powerful. And all too strangely familiar. Troubled he fell into deep sleep, pondering what this could mean.
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Ben woke up in the most gloriously comfy bed. It was of course a hospital bed, but after all he'd been through it could have been made of nails and still it would have felt like heaven.
Opening his eyes he saw the faces gathered around his bed. Some he recognised and some were unknown to him. But for a reason he couldn't fathom they were looking at him with great care and love.
"Finally, thank goodness your awake," said Vestara flinging her arms around him, dazing Ben. It took a few moments to regain speech, but then he spluttered, "W-why are you so upset?"
"Well it is your anniversary to day. I had planned so much, we were going to go for a romantic stroll together and leave the kids behind." Vestara replied sweetly and lovingly.
Now Ben was confused. But he had little time to think about it as the shock was too much for his broken body and he collapsed into unconsciousness once more.
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"Oh dear," a medical droid spoke, "I feared this might happen. The fall that your husband sustained has caused him full amnesia. His memories will come in time, but for now you must take it steady, he has probably forgotten everything."
Vestara was frozen still. So she was right. This place felt surreal, and her memories of it were vague and incomplete. It was fake. Or was it. The thought she just had was drifting off and in seconds she had forgotten it. New memories flooded her, of her life with Ben and their kids, now sat down around her. Now oblivious to the fact that it was completely fake she worriedly quizzed the droid.
"For how long? Will he remember the kids? His father going mad in the war?" Vestara was panicking now.
"Calm my dear you will both remember all soon enough." He said and walked away.
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Ben woke again, but this time in a double Bed in a very big house.
"Hello dear," Vestara said, "Take it easy. The doctors say you will have forgotten almost everything."
And it was true. Ben had had a vague memory of where he'd been before, but it had vanished. And very slowly others were taking its place. Ben chased the thoughts away, he needed his mind clear to think.
"Who are they?" he said, pointing to the three toddlers around him.
"The doctors said that to get your memory back it would be wise to show you people and places you have forgotten." Vestara said very calmly. Slowly she placed one of the toddlers on his lap, "This is Valkyrie."
Suddenly memories came to him. His daughter's birth, first birthday, and beating him for the first time at a holonet game. But the alieness of it sent a chill to his core, a chill he hung on to for hope of retaining some of his old, forgotten self. Something was amiss, and he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"This is Mara." Yet again memories came to him. Yet again he clung on to the chill that went down his spine.
"And this is Luke." There it was. The missing piece was Luke, his father. Fragments came… a meteor….but nothing else.
"Where's my Father?" He asked.
Vestara sighed. "Ben, during the year-war period your father …well he ended up crashing. He didn't die, but his mind was damaged beyond repair. At the moment he's in an asylum, mad. He's been there for 20 years now." She spoke softly, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
No, his mind spoke to him, that's not right. But another force clamped down on that thought, shutting it away. But it was too late. This was another thought that Ben also clung to and this time he asked a question.
"20 years? How long have we been….," he struggled to put the words right, "…been together for?"
"20 years, and the kids are 1 and 5 and 3." Vestara said all this condescendingly slowly which annoyed Ben. "And of course we're not always around so sometimes Jacen or Anakin have to look after them when we're off duty."
Ben spluttered and nearly fell off the bed. "WHAT!" He exclaimed shocked, but for a reason he just couldn't reach, it was just beyond his grasp.
"What's wrong?" Vestara inquired.
"Nothing it's just Darth C…C…..I can't remember. It's probably nothing." Yet Ben couldn't rid himself at the shock, but also happiness he felt. Anakin and Jacen were here. Normal. And yet he couldn't grasp that importance. But at the moment it didn't matter, it was a happy time for one reason or another. Too happy.
"And where's my mother?" he asked.
"Away off on Jedi business, she won't be back for a while." She replied.
"Finally…," Ben stopped thinking of how to put it, "What happened in the war? How long was it?"
"Ben the war was only half a year," she replied calmly, "When the sith and Jedi reached a standstill, they negotiated a peaceful settlement and there has been peace and prosperity ever since." That stopped her dead. It didn't add up, the sith and jedi. Finally it hit her. The real memories came flooding back. She gasped as she realised the truth.
"Are you all right?" Ben inquired worriedly.
"Yes, yes I'm fine. I'm just tired." Her mind worked quickly. What had made her realise the truth was the impossibility to her of the sith-jedi treaty. It was so against her sith beliefs that it had caused the truth to be realised. However she knew Ben wouldn't have figured anything out yet. Somehow his memories were being blocked. And this gave her ample time to discover more about Ben, and the lives of these jedi. Knowledge that could help the real sith in the real world. And also this place was nice. Happy. Surely a few days here wouldn't hurt?
"So..," she said changing tack, "Do you remember anything?"
"Just small bits," he replied, "The kids, you and that's about it. Can I go see my Father?"
"Sure," she said. She was fine with him gone a few days. More chance to snoop around, and when he got back she could quiz him on what he knew. It would have to be very subtle and unrecognisable; he would have to be oblivious to the fact that she was interrogating him. But she was good with being discreet. "How about you take a few days to go see him. He's on the medical centre on Naboo at the moment, that's quite far from here in Coruscant."
"Okay, I'll go off and see him then." Ben replied. He still had a feeling of unease, but it was hard to resist the allure of this happy place.
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She had been right; it did take a few days to get there. When he got there, he could see Luke was getting no special treatment. It felt wrong to him, like he wasn't wanted there. The place around him was dark, dusty and uninviting. It was almost most like everything around him was telling him to go back. Only his loyalty to his father kept him on his path forwards. He had to check in to the asylum. They didn't seem happy to see him and kept tried to put him off seeing his father.
"Look, I know you want to see him, but he's having a bad day. The madness is bad today, surely you can come back another time," the receptionist said, trying to dissuade him.
"No I want to see my father. Arrange it, I'm not taking no for an answer." Ben replied coldly. He wanted to see his father whether they liked it or not.
"But sir-
"No," Ben said moving past. "I'm seeing him now."
It took him a while to get past everyone, who weirdly kept standing in his way, and guards had to accompany him all the way, a part of 'regulations'. But when he stood before his father though he was surprised. His father looked strained, like he was using every ounce of his strength to stay there. Not mad but different. Aware of something.
"Ben!" he exclaimed delighted, "I've found you. Listen, before they take me away again. It's not real, it's all fake. I'm on board the jade shadow and so are you."
"What!" Ben exclaimed, using all his strength to hold on to this moment, and not let it slip through his fingers like all the rest had.
"I'm sorry sir your father's not well today, he needs sleep." The guard grabbed Luke without time for Ben to stop him.
"Son listen, they're not real, none of it is...the eyes...look at the eyees...and it'll stop if you do something to abnormallll to abnormal...the eyesssssss..."Luke drifted off into sleep before being strapped to his Bed.
"Why did you do that?" Ben demanded angrily.
"I'm sorry sir safety first. And now I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It's not a matter for negotiation. Walk this way. And I'm afraid after an episode like that your father won't be ready for another conversation again for at least a month. He's mad, thinks it's all fake. None of what he said is true." The guard said in a dull tone.
Ben felt that the last part was forced. Wrong. But still he didn't know why. He'd have to talk to Vestara about it.
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Luke opened his eyes reluctantly. Stang, he thought, he had been so close. But before he could properly reveal everything to his son, this force had stopped him. It was incredibly powerful, and yet somehow it was impossibly familiar.
It had taken him several tries to break the almost impenetrable wall around his son's brain but at the end he had managed it. He only hoped that it was enough, that the clues he had given him would help his son escape the nightmare.
Once again Luke fell into an unsettled sleep.
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When Ben had left Vestara got to work on everything that she thought needed doing. Emphasis on the thought. She had soon realised that this because this was totally unreal, the places names and facts would also be unreal. This meant that all the facts she learnt about the jedi would be useless. Now that the main reason for staying was gone, part of her argued that she should leave now. But she didn't listen to that part. A few days can't hurt, was the thought she listened to, just a few more days. The place was so happy, no tricks no underhandedness, she just wanted to stay here for a few more days. It couldn't hurt. So she spent a while admiring the scenery, and of course looking after the kids. She was surprised at the amount of happiness that it brought her. Nurturing these little toddlers was tiring, but she found a lot of satisfaction from it.
She decided to go on a stroll with the kids, down one of the streets of coruscant, and get a feel for this planet. It was very happy and safe, she decided. Everyone was kind to her, and the stroll was a very relaxing time. Whoever had conjured all this up had put a lot of time into it, the skyscrapers were magnificent and very shiny. It put an air of beauty to the place that she enjoyed. Another thing that she had noticed was that her scar was gone. That was information well received by her. In fact she was over the moon by it. For once in her life she felt adequate, complete. The scar had stopped her in her strive for ultimate perfection; it seemed to her that now she could grasp it. That, the sensible part of her mind said, was why she was staying. The feeling of perfection, happiness and none of the tricks which were part of everyday life for her as a sith here made it a place she wanted to stay. And that was why she had to leave quickly. Or she would be trapped here forever. But yet again she ignored those thoughts and concentrated on the happiness and security of this place.
After her stroll she decided to meet up with her old master Lady Rhea. In this series of events she seemed to have survived, and she wanted to go see what kind of a life she would have had.
"Well hello my old pupil, it's been too long," Said Lady Rhea when they met. It certainly has, thought Vestara, it certainly has.
"It's good to see you too," Vestara replied calmly, "I was just wondering how life had turned out for you after the war."
"Ahh, a good question, hmmm where to begin." Lady Rhea replied knowingly, almost as if she had been expecting the answer.
But Vestara took no notice of this and listened intently.
"Well you see," Lady Rhea started, "I was one of the generals in the war. We fought valiantly at the beginning and took several planets, but it just wasn't enough. Our armies weren't strong enough, the sith weren't powerful enough. And there was such a loss of life; we couldn't stand it, a waste of great people and lives." Once again Vestara was reminded of how she didn't like this place, how she had realised the truth. The fact that her sith would never have given up, and they certainly wouldn't be upset at the loss of life. This speech wasn't going the way she wanted.
"So we agreed to a peace treaty," Rhea continued, "and the war ended. After it I decided to become a diplomat, to help people peacefully not violently." Ugh too much niceness, Vestara thought.
"Oh OK then," Vestara said, trying to change the subject, "This house looks nice, how did you get it?"
Vestara and Rhea spent the rest of their time together discussing the beauty and value of the house, and Lady Rhea gave Vestara a tour of it. Vestara liked the colour; it was her kind of thing. She had already pushed the other speech into the back of her mind, and almost forgotten it. Almost.
When she arrived back home she put the kids to bed before falling into a deep slumber, thinking happy thoughts of the place she was in.
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When Ben arrived home he had a lot to talk about. So many questions.
"Hi honey, how was your time?" Vestara asked, from the main room.
"Weird." he replied, "I did find my father, but it didn't go exactly as I expected. For a start, no-one wanted me there. It was as if everyone kept blocking the way. Is there something extra-specially wrong my father?"
"Hmm," Vestara sighed racking her brain for a plausible answer, "Well you know the sickness that the apprentices had? He kinda got it in a permanent way. It was an adverse effect of fighting Abeloth at the end, and he only felt it some time after."
"You told me he crashed?" Ben replied questioningly.
"The doctors said not too give you too many details of the bad things that happened but to focus on the good, otherwise they said your memory might not come back." Vestara answered, hoping that it sounded believable.
"All right then," Ben said acceptingly, "But my father also said some really weird stuff."
"Just forget about it, I've arranged for you to meet some people, maybe they'll help trigger your memories."
"Who?" Ben inquired.
"Jacen and Anakin." She replied.
"Great," Ben replied happy at the thought.
"Let's go then, and it's probably best not to mention your father to them, they might get a bit upset." She said happily.
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They arrived at the arranged place in 30 minutes. It was a simulated park, in the centre of a coruscanti building. Ben did enjoy the layout of it, it was very realistic and the air had been made especially fresh. But none of this could make Ben forget his father's warning. The eyes...look at the eyees...and it'll stop if you do something to abnormallll to abnormal...the eyesssssss…. He hadn't figured it out yet, but he was working on it.
Then Anakin and Jacen arrived. He and Vestara warmly greeted Anakin; it was like long lost friends seeing each other.
"Hey buddy, how you been? Last I heard you lost your memory, it come back yet?" asked Anakin caringly.
"Not yet, but hopefully soon." Ben replied
Then Jacen spoke, "How are you?"
Ben froze. A chill went down his spine and in this moment of shock Ben found strength to follow his father's words. And he looked into Jacen's eyes. They were pure black. Then the memories hit him. A part of him realised that the realisation had come to him through his previous, awful experiences with Darth Caedus. His voice had shocked into being able to do what he had to do. H had then looked at the eyes. They say eyes are windows into your soul. These were carefully programmed simulated eyes, which new no emotion.
"Ahh," he gasped as he went through the memories. The meteor, the ship everything. And then he realised the last part of what he had to do. It repulsed him. He looked at Anakin and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Then he cut Anakin's head of with his now ignited lightsaber. Vestara screamed in shock, and Ben didn't notice. He didn't notice that her eyes were normal colour, he was too busy. He had cut off Anakin's head because of what his Father had said. It had to be something so utterly abnormal, that it would end this nightmare. And he thought that beheading Anakin would probably be one of the only things that did the trick.
Ben waited a moment as the blood seeped out. He waited another moment. Fear gripped him as the horror of what he had done seeped in. The looking out the glass building he saw the meteor again. And then smiled as utter darkness washed over him and Vestara.
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"Well done," a cold voice spoke.