He missed her.
Sometimes he wondered what it would have been like to be born an ordinary citizen, instead of being born into such a legendary family. His parents, Captain Han Solo, and General Leia Organa, along with his uncle, Master Jedi Luke Skywalker were exceptional fighters for the Rebellion during the time of the Galactic Empire. They were a part of the destruction of both Death Stars, and successfully ended the reign of Emperor Palpatine, thus restoring order and peace within the galaxy. However, there was a new threat arising, growing in size and strength, and he along with other members of the Resistance spent their days now on Naboo, carefully constructing and reconstructing new plans to bring down the threat.
Ben Solo was a rather tall, handsome man of thirty-two. He had dark curly hair, and piercing dark eyes. He had seen many things in those thirty-two years, one of which he desperately wished he could forget. He remembered the day he watched a young girl being carried off by a mysterious chrome armored figure. He remembered how he ran after her, screaming, crying her name. But his legs weren't fast enough, and he watched in agony as the shuttle rose into the air and out of sight.
Although he knew nothing of her whereabouts now, he knew she was still alive. That much was certain. Yes, he would have felt of her demise.
There was no one else that he thought of more for the past ten years. No one else that had consumed his thoughts more than she had. He often wondered where she was, who she was now. The thoughts of her often distracted him from his days of fighting for peace, freedom, and restoration against the new threat known as the First Order.
The First Order had been tracking their every move for years, and had managed to locate the resistance's whereabouts every time they moved their location. It was frustrating really. Either they stayed in one place for so long, and left, or they simply waited until they came to them and fought them off. They were strong fighters, the Resistance, and had an even stronger leader, General Organa.
They knew it wouldn't be easy, restoring order. So many lives had been lost, and an impending war was hanging in the balance. But they refused to lose hope.
Striding through the streets of Naboo, Ben walked alongside his droid unit, BB-8. The planet had been abandoned, deserted by its native people long ago, and its capital city was now home to the Resistance. General Organa thought it best to set up base here, not only for it being deserted, but for sentimental reasons as well. Their base was located directly within the walls of the Royal Palace.
Ben enjoyed walking the streets of the deserted city every day. With all of the debates and arguments that constantly broke out in the assembly room, it was refreshing to step out every once and a while, breathe fresh air, and clear his mind.
As he walked now through the streets with his BB unit, the droid beeped at its master "Yes, I know, I was there at the meeting." The droid then stopped rolling for a moment and moved his large black eye towards the man that stood beside him. "Of course we are prepared," he responded. "We are ready this time, ready than we have ever been."
Ben thought then of how they were not as lucky last time on their previous base. It was on the planet Takodana, and their scanners were malfunctioning. They had no idea they were coming, and were not prepared. There numbers were small then, and half of the fighters were killed, including Ben's best friend Poe Dameron.
Poe was a pilot, one of the Resistance's best, "If anything happens to me out there Ben," he told him. "I want you to take care of BB-8 for me. Promise me alright? He'll need you." And that was the last time he saw the X-Wing pilot.
As he shook off the thoughts of his fallen friend, he looked back at the droid that had become his closest companion.
More beeping, distinctly anxious this time, "I don't know, maybe. Don't get your hopes up."
The droid then lowered his head, and gave a short somber beep. "She's gone. You gotta accept that." He paused and began walking once more, "God knows I've had to."
As he began to take faster steps, Ben heard more beeps from behind him, he ignored the sounds. He couldn't think of her anymore, not right now.
Rey and Finn rose early that morning along with the rest of their fleet. She was thankful she had on her mask, for her tired eyes would have frightened her friend. As they stood now in formation with the other troops, they watched on as their Captain made her regular speech. Rey tried her best to keep her eyes open and not fall to the ground in exhaustion.
"You are to raid the grounds," she told them. "If you find any sign of life, any sign of the Resistance, do not hesitate to kill them. That is an order."
When the meeting was over, the troops left the room one by one, and headed towards the hangar to depart for Naboo. As they were now all in a two person line formation, Rey leaned over to Finn. "Apparently I have been given a special task," she told him. If he had not had his face covered with the white clad mask, Rey would have seen Finn's look of confusion. "Captain Phasma informed me that my mission while on Naboo is to search the Theed Palace, apparently that is the new base of the Resistance."
"You're going in there alone? Rey you can't do that. You don't know—you could be outnumbered greatly you realize that?" he replied with concern.
She tilted her head then through her mask and muffled briefly, "Excuse me but I can take care of myself. I think you and every other person on this base knows well of that by now."
Finn said nothing in reply, and simply stared straight ahead as they now began to board their transport.
Ben was now in the palace. He often found it strange that a building so beautiful could be filled with such madness. As he walked up the marble stairs to the assembly room, he could hear his mother giving orders to the team in the distance.
"Our scanners indicate that a quartet of First Order transporters are heading towards us now. We must not show them any sign of fear. We must fight for the New Republic, and fight for our freedom." As he walked into the room he stood by his father, who was listening intently as the general spoke.
"Where have you been kid?" he asked still staring at Leia.
Ben sighed, "Taking a break from all this mess, clearing my head."
"Well," Han said. "you got plenty of time to do that later when, hopefully, this war is over."
Ben then gave his father a side glance that screamed annoyance.
As his mother concluded her speech, she grabbed her son's arm as he started to leave the room. "Ben come with me, there's something I must tell you."
He looked at her with confusion and looked briefly back at his father.
"We… I have reason to believe that she is on one of the four transporters." Leia said softly.
Ben's eyes widened, and licked his lips, "Are…are you for certain?" he asked.
"I am afraid so," she said honestly.
"Then you've got to call this off," he said. "You can't shoot them down, if there is any chance she is indeed on board, we must pull back. We can't fight her, I won't-"
"Ben," she began. "I know you blame yourself for what happened, but you've got to put the past behind you. The girl you once knew is gone. She will not hesitate to kill you or anyone one of us for that matter. You must not let your emotions overpower your loyalties to the Resistance."
Ben nodded his head, and sighed. He knew she was right, the girl he knew was gone, and had been replaced with a fighter, a killer.
He thought then if he would have the strength to do it if he saw her. Could he fight her? Kill her? He tried his best not to think about it as he made his way to his room.
As the quartet of transports carrying the ninety white armored troopers of fleet 21 flew overhead the deserted planet of Naboo, Rey along with the others all wondered what might await them. She had been a part of the destruction of many villages and planets and had killed many, but for some reason, she was nervous. Nervous for the first time in her life. She felt her heart beating loudly in her chest, and struggled to catch her breath as she stood their along with the others, weapon tightly gripped in hand. As they made their descent, the silence within each transport was replaced by a thunder like sound as they made their way down to the planet's surface.
Leia was conversing with a technical specialist, when a scanner began to beep violently. The two looked at the other, and sighed deeply. Leia then made her way into the empty hallway of the palace and projected her voice. "They have been sighted! They have been sighted! It is time every one!" The now empty hallway was then packed with, fighters, pilots, and droids alike. Ben heard the commotion happening outside of his room, and grabbed his weapon. He looked in the mirror before him and sighed deeply, and left the room, hoping he would not see the girl he lost so many years ago.
Rey tried her best to catch her breath then, to remember her training. Pull yourself together she thought. This is just like every other mission. But it wasn't she knew that. She felt quite strange as their transporter landed smoothly onto the planet's outer region, and the transport's bow doorway abruptly opened, releasing the track onto the ground.
As they made their way to the capital, Rey could see that there truly was nothing left of Naboo. The buildings, which were once praised for their beauty, were now nothing but ruins. The only thing that stood out was a rather large structure, fit for royalty. It was circular in shape, tan in color, with an emerald green roof. As Rey now gazed upon the structure in the distance, the other troops began to walk about the streets of the planet, searching for any signs of life. She walked on, unknowing what awaited her.
Everyone rushed outside, pilots entered their X-Wings, and BB-8 slowly rolled up to the foot of his master. Its head was spinning around uncontrollably. He beeped in frustration as it found itself unable to stop. Ben then looked down, for he heard its beeps. "Hey buddy, oh-" he said realizing that something was clearly wrong. "I'm not going to have to put a restraining bolt in you am I?" Almost annoyed this time, the droid beeped, "I know I know I'm just kidding." He leaned down and examined the droid, "Just what I thought, your circoreceptor needs changing." He then looked ahead, and realized he was now alone with the droid. "I guess the war will have to wait, come on I'll come fix you up back inside." The droid beeped in gratitude, and rolled then after its master.
Rey was now standing in front of the palace doors. She waited, as if she was expecting to see someone.
She then walked up the steps that led to the front entrance, the door was wide open. As she made her way inside, she was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. Once she looked around, and realized no one was there, she did the unthinkable, something she was told never to do unless she was eating, sleeping, or bathing. She removed her mask.
As she did so, she firmly placed it under her right arm, and made her way up the long marble staircase. There was no one there. What was she to tell the Captain?
Ben sighed and shrugged as he worked on the BB unit. "Almost got it," he informed. The droid beeped with gratitude once more as its head began to slowly stop spinning. "And …..there," he said. The droid beeped and chirped with glee and nudged itself to its master's face, "You're welcome buddy," he said as he slowly rose to his feet. His door was wide open, and he was astonished and taken back when he saw the shadow of an armored figure.
It was her.