PART II OF III

Fragments in itallics are used to dive into specific characters' heads throughout the narrative.

Chapter 21: "Inescapable"

Morning came in the distant planet of Toscilla, in Organa City. This was a highly industrialized city with a colorful skyline. Its sun only enlightened the planet for about five hours a day, and the rest of the day was a bright blue due to the chemicals in the atmosphere and the reflection of its many moons. The melancholic aura produced by this environment was more intense and noticeable in that region than it was in any other on the planet. When General Leia and hundreds of other Rebels noticed this upon their arrival following the Battle of Endor, it was decided that the region would be named in their honor, and it was then voted that it would specifically be officially known by the name of the man who had fought to preserve democracy in the face of Chancellor Palpatine rising to power. The melancholic nights were often the backdrop to moments of sadness and remembrance, moments to mourn the millions of lives lost when Alderaan was destroyed. It had been thirteen years since then.

A young Ben Solo woke up. He sensed someone was coming to visit and he jumped out of bed in excitement.

"Five, o, I think my uncle is here!" he cheered to the handy droid resting beside his bed. This was a droid with one wheel, a simple robotic structure above it, and a rotating arm on top, which was designed to attend the young boy's needs. Just beneath the wheel, there was a small blue light, through which it was able to see its surroundings. Ben put on his boots and jacket and ran excitedly outside his room.

"Ben, hold up," 5-06 said, "Stairs!". He approached quickly after the kid, but then slowed down to not fall down the stairwell. After all, Ben's room was the highest in the house.

Ben arrived at the vestibule, and the door opened, having recognized the voice of the visitor. Ben clenched his fists in excitement and smiled. The light of the sun made it impossible to tell colors, but the shape of his uncle was there, solid and clear. The door closed behind him, and Luke's face was now fully visible.

"Uncle Luke!" Ben screamed, running into his arms. Luke kneeled down and hugged his esteemed nephew.

"Hey, kid!" Luke caressed Ben's hair, "What's this mane? Your hair's as long as mine was when I was twice your age!"

"Well, dad said it keeps the ears warmer," they stopped hugging, "Besides, short hair makes crowns look odd".

"Crowns? I didn't know I was in the presence of royalty!" Luke said, charismatically.

"Could I help with that?" Leia asked, as she walked in from her room, "I don't honestly know if he can be royalty or not, given that Alderaan is gone".

"Hi," Luke said, approaching his loved sister with open arms.

"Good to see you here, Luke," she said, hugging her twin brother, "I'm sure we have important matters to discuss".

"I'm afraid so," he responded, with a face that made it hard to tell what exactly he felt about that.

"Ben, can you go get your father?" Leia said, turning to her son, "He's down at the lake, fishing".

"Sure!", Ben nodded, quickly running off to open the door from the inside. 5-06 finally came down the stairwell and followed Ben to the outside of the house. The kid and the droid ran down a valley colored with green and blue leaves. At the bottom, there was a lake, and Han Solo threw bait to the lake. The bait was on a spike and attached through a string to a stick he'd buried just minutes earlier outside the lake, and Han was quietly aiming at the spot where he was now expecting some creature to bite. Suddenly, the stick bended somewhat, and Han confidently fired his weapon, which instead of a blaster, shot a small and light harpoon into the sea. Han pulled the harpoon towards him, and it was through the corpse of a small, grey creature with three eyes and many fins all over his body.

"Dad!" Ben said, now approaching his father. Han saw his son coming and smiled. 5-06 followed closely. The creature on Han's grip still shaked.

"I guess you're not going back home tonight," Han whispered to the creature, jokingly. Ben laughed.

"Mom wants you home," Ben said, "Uncle Luke is here!"

"Is he, now?" Han asked, "Somehow, he's nowhere to be found when we have plagues, but your dad's out here wearing embarrassing footwear and he decides to show up mysteriously", he said, referencing his dirty, smelly sandals.

"Any other shoes would be ruined by this," Ben said.

"No, I know," Han said, while the creature continued to contort in his arms. Han held him and tried to keep him still, "But… you know, still. These smell like trash, and I've been around trash, so I know what I'm saying". The two walk back to the house, followed by 5-0.

"That was certainly a technique, master Solo" 5-0 commented.

"Appreciate it," Han said, "No more funny comments".

Finally, back at the house, Luke and Leia seemed to be having a serious conversation. Han picked up on this, and he and Leia quickly exchanged looks.

"Hey, son, can you go get me my boots, please?" Han asked.

"Yeah!" Ben responded, then running off quickly to his father's dormitory.

"What, a third Death Star?" Han asked Luke, sarcastically.

"Good to see you, too, Han" Luke said, again opening up his arms. Han welcomed his hug and Ben arrived with his father's boots.

"Thank you, son," Han said, grabbing the boots and sitting down on a nearby chair to put them on, "Now, can you leave your mother and I with Luke? I think it's grown-up stuff".

"O- kay…" Ben said, visibly disappointed.

"Hey, don't worry; we'll play later," Han said, ruffling his son. Ben chuckled and walked upstairs. 5-0 followed, using a jumping mechanism to take each step.

Upstairs, Ben paced in circles. 5-06 followed him with his eye.

"Are you entertained?" 5-0 asked.

"No, five, o, I just don't understand why I can't be there," Ben complained.

"Grown up stuff suggests it's stuff strictly for grown ups," 5-0 responded "It is a descriptor of who's allowed to be involved in the conversation".

"I know, I…" Ben said, "I just need to be alone right now".

"Understood. I will turn myself off" 5-0 agreed, and his light turned off. Ben jumped onto the bed. Then, he felt a temptation. He heard a whisper inside his head, which told him to eavesdrop on the conversation, and no one was telling him not to anymore, so he took off his boots and quietly went downstairs. The first person he heard was his uncle.

"The Jedi have to come back," he said, "Without the Jedi here to protect us, anyone can go nuts with the Force".

"Did anything happen?" Leia asked. Luke continued to walk around, and looked everywhere but to his sister and her husband. Leia remained with her arms crossed, standing up beside a window. Han was still sitting down, on his wife's right side.

"Maybe, but anything could happen," Luke insisted, "and that's the point. A new generation of Sith could rise, or something worse than them".

"I don't like how cryptic you're being," Leia said, "But I do agree that a new Jedi Order would be useful".

"Do you know enough about the Jedi?" Han asked.

"Good question," Luke responded, "I've been travelling all around the galaxy and finding out all about their history and philosophy. I get their ideology now. I don't agree with all of it, but this is bigger than me. Like Yoda said, I have to pass it on".

"And who's going to be in this new Order?" Han asked.

"I'm also travelling because of that," Luke admitted; "Remember when we trained to reach out?" he asked Leia, "If used rightly, it can find people across the galaxy, find people who are strong with the Force, perhaps".

"And this is how you're searching?" Leia asked.

"Yes…" Luke nodded, "This is definitely happening. I'm ready now. I've read all about it. And hey, I beat the Emperor and brought Vader back. I've made a name for myself, haven't I? I can be their Obi Wan," Luke said, excitedly, his mind thinking back to how his journey started thanks to Obi Wan Kenobi's teachings, "Imagine!"

"You don't have to be the new Obi Wan, he made mistakes," Leia said, with an expression denoting that this wasn't the first time she'd heard Luke projecting himself as his former master, "And you don't have to be the new Anakin, either," she continued, with a noticeably more serious tone. The truth was that she had never formally made her peace with Anakin's actions as the evil Darth Vader, despite how hard she tried, "You're you! You've accomplished things they wouldn't dream of".

"Hey, come on," Han interjected, almost like an uninvited guest, "Let him be, Leia, he can decide what to do with his life, he's a grown-up," he said. Leia looked back at him, exasperated, like he had just brought back something the two of them had left unresolved. Ben smiled upon hearing them say "grown-up".

"Anyway," Luke continued, breaking the tension, "New Jedi order. Tracking down powerful kids to train them. Bringing back the old Jedi way…" he said. He was thinking of something specific to discuss with them, and they, too, had something they wanted to talk to him about. Unbeknownst to the trio, however, they all wanted to address the same matter.

"Speaking of which," Leia said, looking over at Han, as if asking him to back her up, "We- I feel Ben…" she took a deep breath. She knew this would change Ben's life forever. Little did she know, it would end up affecting the lives of millions across the galaxy, "He's strong with the Force," she finally revealed, "Very strong".

"A Skywalker who's strong with the Force?" Han added, "We know how that goes". Leia agreed non-verbally. Luke also agreed, but, at the same time, he felt the need to question what they all believed.

"Leia and I are Skywalkers, though," he said, "And we both turned out fine".

"Leia never knew until you told her," Han responded, "Ben is already figuring it out. He's noticed things that fit with the legends he's read".

"We're just afraid," Leia admitted.

"Vader is in him," Han said.

Ben silently said "What?" to himself, completely baffled by this. Wasn't Vader some long-dead warrior from the Empire?

"We can't afford another Vader, and Leia and I can't handle that," Han concluded.

"You're family," Leia said, "And you're a Jedi. Han and I just aren't prepared for this".

"It could be catastrophic if we don't do this right," Han said, "And you can do it right".

"We need you to take him," Leia finally admitted. Ben's face slowly turned to disappointment, to emptiness. Were his parents giving up on him?

What's going on here?

"They're scared," he heard inside his head.

They're probably scared, yeah.

Ben thought that was just part of his mind arguing with itself.

"Scared of you being a monster, perhaps?" the voice asked.

I'm not a monster.

"This is hard, you know?" Luke said, "He'll be separated from his family".

"It's necessary," Han said, with sorrow, rubbing his forehead with his hand, "It might be nothing, or he might kill us all".

"Or worse," Leia lamented, in torment, "himself".

"Doesn't that sound like a monster?" the voice insisted.

Ben felt devastated. His face was burning on the inside. It echoed inside of him.

"He might kill us all," Han Solo's voice echoed through time. Twenty years later, that same boy wakes up again. All those years ago, he felt alone and powerless, and now, both of those feelings were truer than ever before. He could barely move. Everything hurt. He was shaking. It has turned cold during the night, and he hasn't eaten for at least a few days. His wounds could very well be infected. Can he even speak?

So much pain…

"Does this feel satisfying?" Luke's voice echoes, seemingly without a source, "Was this something you foresaw? Did you plan on this when you were training?"

He growls.

Get up. Stop being weak.

The now grown-up boy closed his eyes and levitated his own body off the ground, but, upon having to use his feet to stand, he quickly fell back to the ground, his face landing on a dirty puddle. His teeth clenched harder than ever before. After committing several terrible acts and rationalizing it by saying it was with a purpose, that he would at least become more powerful, it all felt like it meant nothing. Ultimately, he had been defeated. He was powerless and alone.

You failed. You're pathetic. What was the point of all of this?

"Kill me already! End this!" he yells, spitting out mud.

Galaxies away, on a library in Fegwet, Rey, Poe, Finn, and Rose are spread throughout the room. Rey and Poe write a timeline on a black chalkboard. Rose sits down with three books opened up in front of her on a table. Finn paces around the room while listening to a recording.

"Well, how far back do you suppose we can go?" Poe asks, while pulling over a second chalkboard at the left side of the other one and continuing the timeline on it.

"Is this system's problematic history getting a little too long for you?" Rey asks, sarcastically.

"Please," Finn says, covering the ear he's not using to hold the recorder, "As little noise as possible".

"All the way back here, we put the colonization," Poe points to a blank section of the line, "and I leave all of this room open?".

"No, let me fill it," Rey says, as she walks over and writes over the blank space using notes on a piece of paper as a reference.

"All right, all right," Poe says, "Looks good".

Suddenly, the door opens. Lyn and Viera walk in, alongside a three-foot tall, chubby, slimy blue creature with red eyes, wearing a brown jacket, sliding as opposed to walking. It has a thick grey beard.

"Everyone," Lyn says, closing the door behind the creature, "This is professor Rhuddal; she's the oldest in this planet. She's four hundred and six years old, so she's seen a lot of history".

"Please, Lyn," Rhuddal says, "Former professor. I retired a few decades ago".

"After three hundred years of teaching!" Viera says.

"It's a big thing", Rhuddal simply responds, "Teaching history is no simple task in the galaxy as it currently is"

"You stopped when the Empire rose, I assume," Rey says, extending her hand to greet Rhuddal.

"That is correct. I was very scared," she extends her slimy, fingerless blue hand in return, and it engulfs Rey's, "I had to let go of it," and Rey feels the fear that Rhuddal remembers.

"But you are willing to help us now," Poe says, "right?".

"That is correct, yes," Rhuddal responds, letting go of Rey's hand, "It's time to change the galaxy, and I like your plan of starting here and now".

"We have some of Fegwet's history already written down," Rose says.

"It's time to change this galaxy," Rey says, confidently.

"Well, yes," Rhuddal agrees, "But the six of you can't do it".

Everyone's facial expressions change.

"I'm sorry?" Finn asks, finally turning off the recorder, and looking personally offended.

"It's not because of you… it's just the way it works," Rhuddal clarifies, "Six people can't overthrow a dictatorship and then decide the fate of the universe. It's unsustainable and it's unethical".

"How so?!" Poe asks, frowning, challengingly.

"You'd be substituting one dictatorship with another," Rhuddal responds, "You have no legs to stand on, fighting one authoritarian regime to then set up another".

"But we'd be doing it for good!" Rey argues, "For everyone's good! They may not know it but it's what's good for them!"

"That's a very dictatorial thing to say, girl," Rhuddal retorts, "Look. I'm not against you. Changing the system is necessary, but that's not a six-person work. It's a genuinely collective effort. It's democracy".

"So then…?" Poe asks.

"You're kind of on the right path," Rhuddal adds, "Coming here to awake the Rebellion… that's what you need to do. The Rebellion is the collective effort. No matter how powerful the First Order or their new Supreme Leader are, they can't stop a galaxy-wide Rebel movement. They can't beat all of us," she concludes.

"This just gets tougher with each conversation," Finn says, sitting down on the floor and covering his face with his hands.

"You're lucky, though," Rhuddal says. Everyone's expressions come to a halt, waiting to hear what's next, "Because most of the galaxy is already on your side," she continues, "They may not be exactly aware of it, or they may be scared of fighting, but they want what you're fighting for".

"Scared of the First Order?" Finn asks.

"Partially," Rhuddal responds, "But more so, scared that we may be trapped, that we're too far gone and can't escape the way things are…" she shakes her head in disillusion, "Scared of dying while fighting a fight that can't ever be won".