The Call to the Light
Chapter 9 complete
If it wasn't for the low purr of violence brimming from this man (or the blaster against him), Ben would have mistaken that he was being sexually propositioned.
Ohhhh. Ben could grin until his face splits. Now he knows, those fuckers on the other bounty hunter ship did wait until they landed on the Belt.
Rey's wasting her time trying to chat up this clueless youth. All Ben had to do was sit and wait for one of the hunters to snag him
And now they must think he will go quietly.
His lightsaber feels attentively heavy. Ben holds out his hands, showing he is unarmed.
He doesn't bother to alert Rey he's been caught. This will all be over in a bloody mess outside.
In the darkened alleyway, he casually observes the shorter, slim man with wiry strength. He's dressed in nondescript rags and a leather visor that covers everything but his eyes and forehead.
Apparently that's the style for criminals around here.
Under the smattering of luminescent asteroids, his facial features are vaguely human. "Take off your visor. That's it."
"Do you have any idea who I am?" the shadow of Kylo Ren invites in a leer.
"I don't care who you are. What matters is how much you're worth."
Ah. "And what exactly is the price on my head?"
"What, so you can ditch me and sell yourself? Please. Now, be a good boy and turn around."
Ben draws to his full height. He is not a boy. "No."
"Son," he says, warningly. "Turn around."
Ben doesn't have time for this. He draws his the Force like a tapped mine, reaching for his lightsaber –
Only to find that they are both gone.
What the ACTUAL FUCK.
At his apparent shock, the man who's captured him extends his non-blaster hand. Ice-blue heat shoots out from his lightsaber, in the filthy motherfucker's hand.
Ben clamps his gaping mouth shut decisively. He'll kill him with the Force, then.
As he focuses on ripping the man's head from his neck, he's met with a thick cloud. Sweat bleeds out of his forehead and his chest tightens. His head swims almost drunkenly.
Nothing happens. Something is horribly wrong.
He can't feel…he's deaf, all of a sudden. Why can't he do anything?
Why can't he call for Rey?!
"Force-dampener, boy."
The words dance around his head as if foreign. Ben has heard of these mechanisms before. Usually they're huge pieces of hypo-electric equipment that has to be installed in walls for prisoners…or, in his case as a former Ren Knight, captured Jedi.
Something small and dark scurries on the bounty hunter's shoulder. It's a two-headed, two-tailed lizard with a line of eyes along its spine. Ben's seen pictures of this species before. It's a Ccaleda lizard. It secretes pheromones that heavily dampen most telepaths, including Force-sensitives.
The thing rests on the bounty hunter's shoulder like a pet. Ben's knees wobble, and he finds himself slurring, fighting unconsciousness. "Youuu…"
"Well, you can sit still while I call in –"
The bounty hunter's teasing sentence is cut off. Rey has snuck up and snatched the damn lizard thing off his shoulder, squeezing its neck until a faint squeak bursts through the poor animal. Hazel eyes blaze, twin death sentences aimed at the bounty hunter.
Her arm snaps back. The lizard is smacked against some empty trash barrels, which clatter in the silent alley. It must be dead because in another moment Ben can finally breathe, and see.
"You touch him again," Rey utters in a deathly voice. "And I'll hurt you."
"Braeton! She's - "
The boy who flirted with Rey comes barreling from behind, only to be savagely kicked in the stomach (Rey doesn't even turn around). He's thrown off-balance and knocks his head against the wall, crumbling to the ground.
Nobody moves. Ben's heart, however, shivers in triumph at her protective rage.
She borders the Dark Side for me.
"Aw, for fuck's sake," says the bounty hunter.
"Give him back his lightsaber," Rey orders.
"So you can cut me to pieces?"
"So we can escape and be on our way," Rey corrects him.
"Though you deserve a lot less," Ben cuts in, sending his lightsaber flying out of the bounty hunter's hand and back to his own.
Still ignited, the blade is pointed at the bounty hunter's heart. Enough of this useless talk and threats.
The Force roars back to him like a tremor. Indignation sings in his veins, bolstering his thirst for punishment. "You will tell me who sent you, and where the closest First Order ship is."
The bounty hunter doesn't even flinch. "'M a changeling, boy. Force Mind Tricks don't work on me. Neither will wiping out my memory." His tone is even yet unbearably smug. "So unless you want me to run back to the Resistance, you're gonna have to spill my guts out here now."
Ben pushes the blade closer without thinking. "That's not a problem."
"Ben."
All she says is his name, and yet it is a stronger restraint in his power than a thousand of those lizard things.
"He mentioned the Resistance," she tells him at his hesitation.
Ben's brows furrow. "I thought the First Order put the price on my head."
"Aye," says the bounty hunter. "But I have a soft spot for the underdogs."
"We're with the Resistance, you clunker," Rey retorts.
"What about the ship that came after us in hyperspace?" Ben cuts in "Was that you?"
The bounty hunter hesitates, but then there's a sound of rushing footsteps at the end of the alleyway.
It's a Rodian. "Braeton!" he yells in Basic. "You got him?"
Braeton, the bounty hunter, raises his blaster and shoots the Rodian in the chest.
Before Ben and Rey can react from the drawn weapon, another figure skids to his feet in front of the dead Rodian. In mere seconds they watch a human female pull at a communicator and speak to it.
"Shit," hisses the bounty hunter. He shoots again.
The woman dodges and shoots from her own blaster. The bounty hunter and Ben dodge for cover on one side of the wall. Rey, however –
Whoosh - "OWWW!"
Ben whips his head around, his throat constricting in fear. Rey is on the ground, scrambling against the wall. She clutches her shoulder feebly while the ground is striped with blood.
REY!
He's temporarily paralyzed from her pain. This is his fault. She's hurt because he was too stupid to protect them both.
I'm all right, she tells him, shaken from the burning impact.
Then the bounty hunter shouts over the blaster fire. "I'll get you two out of here. On one condition: you take us with you."
Burning with lava-hot frustration, Ben steps out and holds out a hand. Every inch of his posture is a command: the next red-hot streaks of laser fire are frozen mid-air.
As the laser bolts crackle, the female shooter on the other end dashes away to escape.
He is so hot with adrenaline he cannot think. They are in danger, and First Order agents could be hovering nearby, or within the Belt. Rey's injured and now the Falcon feels so agonizingly far.
He shifts his focus on the several blasters cutting the air. He aims them at the running woman.
Ben. Let her go.
Ben looks down at his companion, his savior. She's pushing herself upright while still staunching the bleeding.
He helps her straighten her legs with sudden tenderness. She SHOT you, he reminds her in frayed intensity.
Even in the murky moonlight, she glares. I'll survive.
"Are you people gonna – "
Ben cannot think in this cramped, loud space. He wants everything to disappear and have him and Rey back and safe in the Falcon.
But she won't let him kill anyone.
So he does his best with what he's allowed to do. He throws his hand out, and like she did with the lizard and the boy behind them, batters the woman against the wall until she's knocked out.
The bounty hunter watches with an approving nod. "Well, all right, then."
Behind them, the boy groans and shuffles upright. "Whoa. What the fuck did I miss?"
"We've traded our shit comrades for new ones," quips the bounty hunter.
The boy's dazed look is replaced with rippling denial. "What?" He flips his gaze from Rey to Ben. "Absolutely fucking not. We came her to capture him."
"Plans change, boy," the bounty hunter says. "You're welcome to leave, but I've just shot the Rodian and the human. Korla and the Bothan won't be safe without us. Well, me."
Ben grabs the bounty hunter by the collar and leans forward. "How many are there with you?"
"About six more. Aliens that are bigger than me."
"That woman was one of yours?" Rey asks.
"Aye. The rest of the scavengers will probably descend on us in another minute."
The Ccaleda lizard…there could be more of them. Ben shoves the bounty hunter back into the wall to get his attention. "Do they also have Force-dampeners?"
"No! Those shit things are expensive."
Rey's connection to Ben in the Force is torn from her injury. She turns around, remembering the boy. "And what about you? Are you with him?"
Still on the floor, the blond shrugs. "Yeah."
Ben struggles to seize comprehension of the moment. This man is a conflict: First he tries to capture Ben, then he suddenly defends them; though he seems to act out of getting a larger cut on his head-price all for himself.
"So whose side are you on?" he demands, a low growl, baring his teeth. His scar on his face flexes.
"Yours." The bounty hunter replies hurriedly, struggling under Ben's vice grip. "So long as you help me get my…special lady friend and a certain prized possession out of a Grayscale-class ship called the Shadowbreaker. I'll help you guys escape. I'll make sure all First-Order-sized cunts are warded off the scent, but me and my assistant here are out of a job, courtesy to you two. So pay up and take us wherever the hell you want with you."
"Are you serious?!" the blond cries out in dismay. He's emanating hatred at Ben.
"Wait – wait a minute. Why should we help you?" Rey demands, grimacing away the pain in her arm.
At this, the bounty hunter under Ben's grip turns to Rey, in a patient manner that Ben picks up on immediately.
"Because, luv," he says to Rey, cryptically. "It's about time you returned the favor."
