Chapter 21 – Premonition

"… the First Order is willing to negotiate with your government in the case of your election to the Chancellorship, Senator Zorq. The subject of Alderaan's fate and the future of this conflict are all open to discussion should you be willing to offer some concessions. We are entirely willing to withdraw all forces from the Core for the right price. I am sure such an arrangement could be mutually beneficial for us. If you are a reasonable man as I suspect you are, you will meet me at the edge of the Alderaanian system in the coordinates I have forwarded to you. Good day, senator, and best of luck in the coming election."

"So what do you think, Skywalker?" Zorq asked him after the recording flickered out. "Should I go?"

Ben pursed his lips as he contemplated everything the man had said in the message. "Who is this ginger-haired sleemo?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"His name is General Armitage Hux," Zorq said, looking up at the standing Ben from his seat in the vast albeit extremely sparse Chancellor's office. "From what I can tell, he's the man in charge of the invasion of Alderaan."

"What makes you think you can trust him?" Ben asked.

"Nothing," Zorq admitted readily. "That's why I'm asking you."

Ben began to pace on the other side of Zorq's desk as he thought about this. "He's presenting himself from a position of power yet what he is proposing indicates he is negotiating from a position of weakness," he mused, speaking more to himself than to Zorq. "To me, it seems like he's overextended and wants a good excuse to retreat from Alderaan. If you meet with him and offer concessions, he gets everything he wants."

"So you would advise me not to meet with him?" Zorq asked.

"Not necessarily," Ben said as he looked up to meet the recently-elected Chancellor's gaze. "We can flip this arrangement on its head."

Zorq tilted his head as he leaned back in his chair. "Keep talking," he said.

"If my analysis is correct, Hux's hold on Alderaan is not as strong as we've been led to believe," Ben resumed. "I think we could agree to meet with him and see what he has to say. While we're doing that, we have the fleet approach from the opposite end of the system and launch a ground invasion of the planet."

Zorq blinked a few times as he processed this gutsy proposition. Ben watched him warily as he suddenly realized how brazen his plan sounded. By having him meet with Hux, he would be endangering the Chancellor's life should things go awry. Perhaps Zorq wouldn't appreciate his insouciant attitude toward his wellbeing.

"You know what, Skywalker?" Zorq said, standing up abruptly and pointing a finger at him. Ben swallowed nervously, sure that he had made a critical error. "You're sounding like a real zabrak right now."

"I… I am?" Ben asked cautiously.

Zorq's face broke out into a wide smile, his razor-sharp teeth practically glowing because of how white they were. "No regard for the risks! Fully committed in spite of the consequences! I love it!" Ben loosened up and let himself reciprocate the Chancellor's smile, a wave of relief washing over him at these words. "This could either be the best idea you've ever had, or the stupidest one," Zorq said, pounding his fist on the desk in front of him as he so often did. "But either way, I'm in!"

Ben's smile broadened as he nodded at Zorq. "Alright," he said. "Let's do this."


After having stormed out of her brother's office, Ania made her way to a shuttle which took her across the government plaza toward the Pyramid. Donning her hood, she managed to avoid all unwanted eyes during her commute. She didn't often go out in public on her own, but whenever she did she made sure her hood was up. It was both bizarre and terrifying for everyone to know her face, especially for Ania who preferred lurking in the shadows as opposed to dwelling in the light.

Upon arriving at the military headquarters, however, Ania no longer felt the need to veil herself. Whenever she was at the Pyramid, Ania felt safe. Nobody dared give her strange looks or talk ill about her to her face here. They all knew how protective their commander-in-chief could be of her daughter. Even so, she knew everybody was judging her even if they didn't express it. She understood why everyone was so skeptical about her true identity, but that didn't mean she wasn't fed up with it. It had been three years! When were people going to move on?

Today, however, Ania didn't have time to contemplate the irksome subject of her long-enduring infamy. The crowds peeled away from her as she marched purposefully down the marble hallways toward the hangars. Only when she arrived, however, did Ania realize she had made a mistake.

"Hey!" she called out to a scruffy-looking pilot who was brooding in the corner of the hangar with a discontented scowl. He was the only one around – the rest of the hangar was completely empty, devoid of both ships and people. "Where are all the X-wings?" she asked as she walked toward him. The man's eyes widened for a fraction of a second as he identified her. Blinking rapidly, he pushed himself off the wall and saluted hastily. "Stop doing that," Ania ordered brusquely. "I'm not your commanding officer or anything."

"Oh," the pilot said, lowering his hand and shuffling his feet awkwardly. "I, uh… sorry."

Ania rolled her eyes. "Are you going to answer my question?" she asked.

"Your…? Oh, right! Yeah, the whole fleet dispatched last week," he told her. "They went with General… I mean, with your mother to Coruscant."

"I see," Ania said, crossing her arms irritably. "Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"Er, technically yes," the pilot said sheepishly. "But I got docked a month back for reckless flying. I'm still on suspension."

"Reckless flying?" she asked. "What is that?"

"I'd rather not say," the pilot said as he looked down to his boots.

Ania furrowed her brow as she scrutinized the pilot before her. He had long, shaggy brown hair and a stubbly beard. Probing the Force gently, she could sense nothing but genuine remorse from him. Whatever he had done, he clearly felt bad about it. Or perhaps he merely felt bad that he had been caught. Ania's intuition wasn't refined enough to tell for sure.

"What's your name, pilot?" she asked him.

"Poe Dameron," he said, looking back up to meet her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Poe," she said. "I'm… well, you obviously already know who I am. Can you lead me to a ship?"

"A ship?" Poe repeated. "Um… why?"

"Because I asked you to?" she said, hoping that he would grant her this based on her name alone. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Poe was as pliant as she had hoped.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that, ma'am," he said. "I'm already on suspension. If my superiors found out –"

"But what if your superior's superior found out that you denied me this request?" she asked pointedly. Poe gulped loudly when he realized what she was saying. "So, what do you say? Can you find me a ship or not?"

"I, uh… I can," he said slowly. "But I need to know where you intend to take it."

"Why?" Ania asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I can't let you go somewhere on your own if it's unsafe, ma'am," Poe said importantly. "It wouldn't be right."

Irritated, Ania closed her eyes and made a guttural growl. Why was it all these men were so sure she couldn't look after herself? She was a Jedi! She didn't need to be protected.

"Where I'm going doesn't concern you, pilot," she said.

"Then I'm not going to give you a ship," Poe shot back. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I won't let you endanger yourself."

"You mean, you don't want to get in any more trouble?" Ania asked.

Poe winced at her trenchant, and no doubt accurate assessment. "That's a factor as well," he mumbled. When Ania sighed loudly, Poe raised his hands and took a step toward her. "Look," he said, glancing around to see if anyone was around. "I can give you a ship on the condition that you let me come with you."

Ania gave Poe a suspicious look as her hand instinctively hovered over her lightsaber. "Why would I do that?" she asked.

"I know you haven't been authorized for this," Poe told her. "And I'd wager a guess that your mother doesn't know about this little plan of yours. Am I right?" Ania clenched her jaw and didn't answer him. "I'm bored out of my goddamned mind here," he said suddenly. "Just let me go with you, and I won't tell a soul, promise."

Head inclined toward the taller pilot, Ania contemplated his earnest expression for a moment. "Okay, flyboy," she said, smirking. "You've got yourself a deal."


"Hey, Mom, you wouldn't happen to have heard from Ania this afternoon, have you?"

Ben had just gotten home after a long day with Zorq and the rest of his future cabinet. The moment he had returned, he knew that Ania wasn't here. But even though he couldn't sense her, he went searching through his apartment nonetheless, growing increasingly panicked with each passing minute.

"No," his mother's voice said over the comlink. "Should I have?"

"Erm, no," Ben said as he closed the door to Ania's empty bedroom and made his way back toward the kitchen. "Just wondering."

"Ben, what happened?"

"Nothing!" he insisted all too quickly. "What makes you think something happened?"

"Ben," his mother's voice said sternly. "What happened?"

Reaching the kitchen, Ben sighed loudly as he leaned against the counter and placed his hand to his forehead. "She's missing," he confessed.

"What!?"

At once, Ben winced and lowered the comlink away from his ear. He knew his mother was incredibly protective of Ania, even more so than he was. It was understandable, of course. She didn't want to lose her daughter like she had twenty-one years ago.

"Look, I'm sure she's alright –"

"That's not good enough, Ben!" his mother interrupted him, fear intermingling with anger in her voice. "You have to find her! Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"

Ben hesitated as he considered this question. Now that he thought about it, he actually had no idea where she had gone. He had never asked her where her mysterious contact was. "She came to my office this morning and told me that someone reached out to her saying they had information about Luke," he said eventually.

He heard nothing but static for a few moments as Leia absorbed this information. "Who was this contact?" she asked finally, the vehemence gone from her voice for the time being.

"She said his name was Lor San Tekka," Ben told her.

"I've heard the name," his mother said. "Never met him, but I know he and Luke were close acquaintances."

"Well that's good," Ben said, relieved that Ania's contact hadn't been a scam. "Anyway, she asked me to go with her to talk to him."

"And you refused?" Leia asked incredulously.

"I'm needed here in the capital, Mom!" Ben exclaimed defensively. "I just got appointed foreign minister! Something you don't seem to care that much about, I might add."

"No Ben, I don't care," Leia said bluntly. "Whenever I'm off planet, it is your job to look after your sister! That should be your primary task!"

"She's a grown woman, not a child!" Ben insisted. "I shouldn't have to be her goddamn babysitter!"

"You have to fix this, Ben," Leia growled. "You're going to find her and you're going to make sure she's safe. Do you hear me?"

Ben shook his head. "I can't do that, Mom," he said with brazen defiance. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning, I can't go looking for Ania."

"You're leaving? Where to?"

"To the Alderaan system," Ben said. "Zorq and I are meeting with the First Order to negotiate a ceasefire."

"Ben, no!" Leia exclaimed. "I won't let you! That's absurdly dangerous and entirely unnecessary!"

"Is it?" Ben asked with a frown. "I could save thousands of lives! You think that's unimportant?"

"Your sister is missing!"

"Yeah, well that's her fault, not mine," Ben said tartly. "You may be able to order everyone else around, but you're not going to give orders to me. I respond to the Chancellor, not to you."

"Ben, you –"

Ben rudely cut the feed without letting his mother complete her sentence. Pocketing the device, Ben stared blankly ahead for a few moments with his jaw clenched. He had to confess, he didn't appreciate how disinterested his mother had been by his accomplishments. It wasn't a new realization, but he knew she cared about Ania more. That was fine. She'd never loved him like she loved her. He didn't care. Really, he didn't!

Pushing himself off the counter, Ben ran a hand through his hair as he stormed away toward his room. Purging his frustrations with his mother and his fears for his sister aside, he decided to concentrate solely on the task ahead of him tomorrow morning. It was in politics where Ben could actually make a difference, anyway.


Ania was hovering about a foot off the ground with her legs crossed and her hands rested on her knees. Her eye lids fluttered a bit yet remained shut as she projected herself into the Force. Meditation wasn't an art she felt especially adept at – especially in comparison to Ben who took to it right away – but she found herself much better at it when she focused intently on another person's Force presence through the Force. Typically she would focus on Ben or on her mother, but this time she was reaching out to someone else.

"Grandfather?" she asked. "Do you hear me?"

At once, Ania received a response. "Always, my dear," the gentle voice told her. "What need do you have of me?"

"I need advice," she said.

"I wagered as much," Anakin said. "That's all I can really do, you know. Being dead has its limitations."

Amused, Ania rolled her eyes beneath her shut lids. Her grandfather always had an odd, oftentimes self-deprecating humor which she found extremely endearing. "I think I might be making a mistake," she said. "Even if I do find Luke, how am I going to convince him to return? He barely even knows me!"

"Do not worry about that, child," Anakin's soothing voice told her. "Leave the convincing to me. All you have to do is find him, I will do the rest."

"But he hates you," Ania pointed out, remembering her uncles virulent reaction to his father's ghost.

"You don't need to rub it in, Ania," Anakin said, sounding hurt.

Ania laughed. "Well if you're so confident you can convince him, why do you need me to find him in the first place?" she asked. "Can't you just find him yourself?"

"I don't know where he is," Anakin admitted.

"You don't?" she asked. "But I thought you knew everything! Can't you just find him through the Force?"

"Alas, I cannot," Anakin lamented. "Luke has cut himself off from the Force. He is invisible to me."

"Oh," Ania said. A long silence ensued as Ania's thoughts drifted.

"You are uneasy," Anakin observed finally. "Why?"

Ania pursed her lips as she contemplated how best to explain her source of conflict. "I… I got into a fight with Ben," she disclosed. "We don't fight that much, and I feel really bad about how I left things with him." She paused, her frown deepening as she remembered storming out of her brother's office. "I didn't want to do this without him, but he forced my hand."

"Ben and you share a close bond, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything with him," Anakin told her calmly. "You should always remember that you are not alone, Ania. You have friends by your side now."

Ania smiled feebly at this. "Thank you, Grandfather," she said. "And I won't forget it. I know you're always there for me."

"Indeed I am, but I meant it in the literal sense," Anakin said. "You're not alone right now."

"Huh?"

"Uh… are you floating?" another voice asked.

Startled, Ania's eyes flew open to see Poe staring back at her with his mouth hanging ajar. Concentration shattered, Ania fell back to the ground and landed on her backside with a rather deafening thud. "Ow!" she exclaimed, rolling over and writhing with pain as she grabbed at her lower back.

"Are you okay?" Poe asked, getting to his knees by her side.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, her cheeks flaming red with embarrassment as she struggled to her feet without Poe's assistance. Wincing slightly as she kneaded her back tenderly, she staggered toward the bench and sat down. "What's going on? Are we in hyperspace yet?"

Poe nodded as he looked down at her with a concerned expression. "Were you talking to someone just now?" he asked.

"Never you mind," Ania said sharply. "How long until we get to Jakku?"

"Couple hours at most," Poe told her, his brow still furrowed with concern. "This ship is top of the line."

"Really?" Ania asked skeptically as she looked around the dingy cabin. "This rust bucket is top of the line?"

"It's internal hardware is," Poe said defensively. "I remodeled it all myself."

Ania arched an eyebrow at him. Was he trying to impress her or something? Because if he was… then mission accomplished. Refurbishing this whole ship must have been a colossal undertaking. "Well I must say, it's a miracle this thing can even fly, much less surpass light speed," she said, resorting to snide as she so often did in uncomfortable social situations.

Poe frowned, clearly taking offense to her rudeness yet was too polite himself to confront her about it. An awkward moment passed as he rubbed the back of his head. "So are you going to tell me why you need to go to Jakku so bad?" Poe asked finally.

"No," she said laconically.

"'Kay," Poe said, clapping his hands together as he spun around. "Guess I'll go chill in the cockpit then."

"Wait!" Ania exclaimed perhaps too loudly. "You're leaving?"

Poe turned back and gave her an odd look. "Would you like me to stay?" he asked her.

Ania opened her mouth, but no words came. She wasn't going to say yes, obviously. She wasn't desperate or anything! But then again, she was feeling a bit lonely. She missed Ben…

Taking her silence as confirmation, Poe shrugged to himself and sauntered over toward the opposite bench. Taking a seat, he stretched his legs out as he rested his hands behind his head. He looked at her closely for a few moments, prompting Ania to gulp nervously as she absently wrapped a strand of hair around her thumb. What was this guy's deal? Why was he looking at her like that? She was only used to two different types of staring: the gawkers and the judgers. Poe, however, seemed to be neither. He just seemed genuinely and innocently curious.

After several uncomfortable minutes, Poe finally spoke. "If it means anything to you, I think it's horrible how you get treated by the press," he said. "It isn't fair for them to question you like they have."

Ania narrowed her eyes, instantly on guard at the subject of her identity. "I don't give a damn what they say," she insisted. "I know who I am. They don't."

"Well good for you," Poe said. "I don't know why anyone doubted you in the first place. You look just like your parents."

Ania bit her tongue and looked away sharply. "You, um… you know what my father looked like?" she asked in a small voice.

"Han Solo? Oh yeah, I met him once."

"You did?" Ania asked, eyes widening as she returned her attention to the pilot. "When?"

Poe suddenly blushed and seemed unable to meet her gaze. "It was a long time ago," he mumbled. "I was, uh… running with a different crowd back then."

"A different crowd?" she repeated.

"You know, people who are less… savory than I suspect you're used to."

Ania smirked at this. The subject of her backstory was not public knowledge, nor would it ever be. Poe had no idea that Ania used to mop the floors of the slimiest and decidedly least-savory individuals in the galaxy.

"Anyway, I met your father during a, uh… during a meeting," he said, hastily moving on from the subject of his own past. "He was a cool guy, that Solo."

"I'm sorry. D-Dad, I'm so, so sorry."

"For what?"

"Forgive me."

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ania unclenched her jaw and looked up, her eyes distant and stormy as she met Poe's solicitous gaze. "You should go back to the cockpit," she said gruffly.

Perplexed by this abrupt instruction, Poe quirked an eyebrow at her. "But –" he began to say, but Ania cut him off.

"Just go," she said. "Please," she added, unable to keep her lower lip from quivering.

Perhaps sensing her anguish, Poe nodded and stood upright. He gave her another funny look before departing, his boots clanging against the rusted metal floor as he retreated. Finally, the echoes of his footsteps faded away. The moment she was sure Poe was gone she fell apart. She hadn't cried about what had happened in a long, long time so perhaps she was merely overdue.

Would she ever get over this guilt? Ben and Leia insisted time and time again that it wasn't her fault, but she knew they didn't really believe that. They just wanted her to move on and be able to live without the burden of guilt. But she couldn't do that. This burden would always be with her, and she forever deserved to bear it.

I'm sorry.

I'm so, so sorry.


One day later

"Hey, Skywalker. You okay over there?"

Ben inhaled sharply as he was jolted out of his thoughts by Zorq who was standing next to him.

"Huh?"

Zorq gave him a reassuring nod and patted him on the shoulder in an oddly paternal way. "Don't worry," he told him. "This will work. I can feel it."

Ben nodded absently as he looked back straight ahead toward the air lock. He hadn't in fact been thinking about the extremely dangerous gambit he and Zorq were about to pull. Instead, his thoughts had been about Ania. He could sense that she was in pain, and that gave Ben serious cause for concern. Was she in danger? Had he made a horrible mistake by letting her leave without him? And what would his mother do when she got her hands on him? Would she finally give in and give him a blast of that sweet Sith lightning? He knew she wanted to. Her self-restraint was actually quite impressive to him, but motherly love would only protect him for so long. He was a dead man when he returned back to Chandrila, wasn't he?

"Skywalker! Loosen up, man. It's going to be fine."

Ben cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah," he said weakly. "It'll work." Perhaps it was in his best interest for it to fail, however. Surely being captured by the First Order would earn him some sympathy points in his mother's eyes. Maybe she'd even forget all about his insolence from earlier.

"Chancellor Zorq, the First Order delegation is ready."

"Thank you, Commander," Zorq said, reciprocating the salute of a soldier in white armor with orange markings on his breastplate. "You and a couple of your men follow with me and Skywalker. The rest of your company should stay on the ship. We don't want to alarm them."

"Yes, sir," the commander said with a bob of his head.

The logistics of this upcoming meeting were something to behold. Two massive capital ships had parked themselves directly next to each other in the outermost reaches of the Alderaan system. A small shuttle was connected to both ships via retractable durasteel cantilevers. It was in that shuttle – the so-called 'negpod,' or negotiations pod – where the meeting would be held as it served as a neutral ground between the two parties. In order to reach the negpod, however, the delegations would have to perform a somewhat-perilous spacewalk.

"Ready when you're ready, Commander," Zorq said, having already fitted his custom-designed helmet which made room for his prominent horns. Noticing that he had yet to place his own helmet on, Zorq gave him a little nudge. Nodding hastily, Ben raised the helmet and stuffed it on rather inelegantly.

"Ow," he murmured to himself, the metal casing slamming painfully against the bridge of his nose as he attempted to force the recalcitrant helmet on.

"Need some help with that, sir?" a voice from behind him asked.

"No," Ben said, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he finally managed to secure the helmet to his suit. "I'm good. Let's go."

"Are your carabiners fastened?" the commander asked him and Zorq.

"That they are, Commander," Zorq said, giving the carabiner at his waist a flick. "We're ready to fly."

"You seem a little bit too eager about this," Ben whispered, feeling extremely queasy by this point.

"I was born to spacewalk, Skywalker," Zorq said, giving him one of his patented, razor-sharp grin. "We zabraks belong amongst the stars."

"And we humans belong in carpeted rooms with air conditioning," Ben shot back with a tepid smile.

Zorq chuckled heartily at this comment. "Very true," he conceded.

"Opening the air lock in three… two… one."

With that, the air lock unsealed with a daunting hiss. Taking a step toward the precipice, Ben hesitated for a fraction of a second before following after Zorq into the abyss. Holding onto his carabiner for dear life, Ben turned around as he began belaying himself out toward the negpod. He watched with great apprehension as the cable connecting him to the Republic star destroyer unfurled as he floated farther and farther away. His vision through his helmet began to cloud up as he found himself hyperventilating.

Hold it together, Ben, he told himself sternly. You're a Jedi! This shouldn't faze you!

That was easy to say in theory, but when nothing but a flimsy rope separates you from the eternal void of space, it's hard not to panic.

"How you holding up, Skywalker?" Zorq's voice asked over the intercom.

Ben felt dizzy and deeply discombobulated, so therefore he said: "I feel great. Never better."

Zorq laughed boisterously once again. "Liar," he said.

Ben allowed himself to chuckle faintly as he shut his eyes tightly and waited for the horrible spacewalk to end. As he did this, Ben suddenly felt a horrible, gut-wrenching pain in his core. Grunting in surprise, Ben slackened his grip on his carabiner and he felt himself drift...

"Skywalker? Are you okay?" he heard Zorq ask.

Millions of voices were screaming in abject terror. The roar was louder than anything he had ever heard. The shrieks barraged his ears and vibrated through his whole body which was trembling with fear. Raw horror consumed him whole as he felt himself screaming alongside the millions beside him. The sky was illuminated with a terrible flash and suddenly everything went black…

"Skywalker! Skywalker!"

The screaming abated but the terror did not. He was gasping for air as he laid flat on his back in a bright white room. A man whom he didn't recognize was on his knees by his side with his hands interlocked over his chest while Zorq watched from above with a horrified expression.

"I… I'm okay," Ben managed to say, startled when the soldier began giving him chest compressions.

"Oh Force, Skywalker! You scared the hell out of me!" Zorq exclaimed as the soldier removed his hands from his chest.

"What happened?" Ben asked in a raspy voice, his throat feeling immeasurably dry.

"You stopped breathing!" Zorq told him. "Your goddamn heart stopped!"

Startled, Ben looked up at the soldier who nodded in confirmation. "I had a heart attack?" he asked the man.

"Seems like it, sir," the soldier told him. "You're lucky we were able to pull you into the negpod just in time."

Wiping his brow with the back of his gloved hand, Ben winced as he struggled upright into a seated position. "Really, I'm fine," he insisted as he waved off the soldier's offer to assist him.

"You must have had a panic attack," Zorq said, visibly flustered as he rubbed the top of his bald head. "But even so, you're too young to be having heart attacks like that, Skywalker!"

"It wasn't a panic attack," Ben said as he met Zorq's eyes. "It was a premonition."

"A what?" Zorq asked, utterly flabbergasted by this statement.

"Of what, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad," he said ominously.

"What do you mean? What did you see?"

"I didn't see it, I felt it," Ben explained despite knowing that it was impossible to truly get Zorq to understand.

"What did you feel, then?"

"Death," Ben said flatly. "I felt death." Zorq blinked in astonishment as he stared back at him with his mouth hanging ajar. "Something horrible is about to happen. I'm sure of it."