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

Chapter 23: "The Light Inside Us All"

Years ago, Ben walks alongside Luke and in front of his parents on a hangar bay. They approach Luke's shuttle.

"See, I usually travel on an X-Wing, but this one's a little less… aggressive. This one says 'we're open to negotiations', and not 'we're gonna shoot you', which is nice," Luke says, trying to divert Ben's attention from what's about to happen.

Why is he talking to me like I'm three years old?

"Do you like the ship?" Luke asks.

"Yeah," Ben responds, brushing off what he sees as an insulting conversation, "It's cool". They finally arrive at the end of the shuttle's ramp. Luke and Ben turn around to see Han and Leia face to face.

"Well," Han says, "Here we are". Then, he kneels down to be on Ben's eye-level. Ben walks towards him and hugs him. While they're hugging, Ben makes one last attempt to stay.

"Can't you learn what Luke wants to teach me? Can't you be the one to teach me?" Ben whispers. Han chuckles.

"I don't think so, son," his father responds.

"I don't think I'm strong enough for this… Please, can't you help me?" Ben asks. Han finally pulls himself away from the hug.

"I can't," he says, "sorry". He then stands back up.

Why won't he help me? He's my dad…

"Maybe he doesn't see you as his son," Ben hears inside his head.

Leia walks towards him, opening her arms.

I can't do this…

Ben hugs his mother.

"Will we see each other again?" he asks her.

"Of course…" Leia responds.

I hope so.

The hug ends and Leia kneels.

"Look forward, always," and she hugs her son once again, "That's my… that's my last piece of advice…".

This is over.

The hug ends and Ben, with teary eyes, finally walks up the ramp.

"I'm sure he'll get better," Luke says, "This is a Jedi thing. It's tough, but it's always been like this".

"It was good seeing you, kid," Han says, "We'll stay in touch".

"Take good care of him," Leia says, hugging her brother, "He's just a kid".

Luke then hugs Han, and afterwards enters the ship.

"May the Force be with you," Luke says, as the ramp closes, "always!".

And, over two decades later, in Neast on a small village, a door opens.

"Hello," an older woman says as she enters the room, "It's Ben, right?"

"Yes," Ben responds.

I don't want to be bothered.

"I brought you something to eat," she says as she reveals a dish with a bunch of small, round, crispy-looking, glassy breads, "Bumcakes, they're called… They will give you a boost of energy, which I think you sorely need".

"Oh, you thi-" Ben almost responds defensively for no real reason that can be discerned, "Oh, you think so, perhaps you're right. After all, you made them".

"Sure, son," that word, again, "Let me just…"

"Why would you use that word?" Ben asks, like a wild animal, "You're not my mother".

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says, making a small reverence as a way of showing humility, "It was not my intention to make you feel what you felt. Did you have a troubling or strained relationship with your parents?".

Why does she have to ask that?

"That's a very intimate question to ask someone," Ben says, with the air of a predator who just locked on to a potential prey, "Unless you're trying to get information out of them…".

"I am trying to get information out of you," she admits, "No one knows anything about you, except that your name is Ben, and that you're angry, for some reason".

Why is she attacking me?

"Angry for some reason," Ben says, "Well, you would think that, of course".

Why is this happening?

"I guess that's true," she concedes, "I don't know what you've been through. If you're responding like this to someone who's come here to feed you, there must be some rough and troubling stuff behind you. I apologize, sincerely, if I made you feel invaded".

Why? Why? She's making me want to explode.

"Should I leave the dish over your legs?" she asks.

I want to eat, but I can't move. It all still hurts. She'd love to know that, wouldn't she? That I'm in pain, that I'm helpless.

No, what are you thinking? She's got no reason to feel pleasure out of my pain. Why did I jump to that conclusion? Maybe she can feed me. I need it. I feel so weak.

"No!" Ben says, this time sounding like a starving, fragile animal, "I… I can't move… help me… feed m-… will you feed me?".

Mind what Burnhar said. It must have some merit. At least, he knows these people, so what he said must be useful for them.

"Please?" Ben asks.

"Sure," she says, somewhat reluctantly. She pulls over the chair beside the door over to next to the bed and sits down, with the dish over her legs, "You ever had one of these?".

"No," Ben responds. She grabs one of the bumcakes and gives it to Ben right on his lips. He chews it slowly.

"Do you like it?" she asks.

"It's good," Ben says, "The taste is good".

It feels good. It has a good taste.

"Here comes a second one, then," she says, giving another bumcake to him.

She seems like she's not enjoying this. She'll want to leave. Who will feed me then? I must keep her here.

"Ye- did you come up with this recipe?" Ben asks, his lips flinching.

"Oh, it's a family recipe," she responds, "My grandmother made them for me when I was growing up. I grew up with them".

"And your parents?" Ben asks.

"They passed away," she responds, "They were killed. In the Clone Wars".

"I know what those are," Ben says. His eyes now don't leave the old woman's eyes. He can almost see her memories behind her pupils.

"My parents wanted to protect me," she says, "So they took me to my grandparents' and went to defend our town".

"From which side?" Ben asks.

"I don't know," she says, "Just from the war, in general. It's all bad".

"And what do you think about what they did?" Ben asks, "Good? Bad?".

"I resented them for a long time," she admits.

That implies she maybe no longer resents them.

"I imagined many things they could've done to save my life, without abandoning me," she admits, "And, it's confusing… you know they were doing what they thought was best for you, but you feel the pain of the consequences they didn't consider… but also… you can't pretend that you would've made a wiser choice if it'd been up to you, right?".

"But you can," Ben says, "We're not weak. We're better than those people who made mistakes in the past".

"I only came up with those better ideas because I saw the consequences of the one they did," she says, "You can't entirely blame them for not having the knowledge they had no way of getting. They did their best. Being bad at parenting doesn't necessarily make them bad people. Imagine them giving up their time with me, their chance to see me grow up, their feelings for me… their own lives, hoping that I would be happy, and then all I feel is hate".

"But that's unfair!" Ben says, "They did make you feel abandoned!".

"Yes, and those feelings were very real," she says, "But it's not as black-and-white as I thought. They didn't intend on making me feel that way… they made a bad call. If I made a bad call and ended up hurting someone I cared about deeply, I know I would want that person to try to understand why I did it and… maybe, in time, give me a second chance".

But…

"And did…" Ben struggles to find the words, "Did you realize you forgave them? Or did you decide you would forgive them? Because those two things are different, and-".

"It was when my son died," she says. Ben stops talking, "Ironic, I know".

That was a genuine observation.

"I had my son when I was already very old," she narrates, continuing to feed the former dark lord, "And he was four, by the time another invasion came our way… this time, it was the First Order".

I remember that invasion.

"I contemplated leaving him with my close friends Gleena and Tubou, my then-neighbors, who had a bunker… and go fight the invasion," she closes her eyes, in regret, "But decided I wouldn't do to him what my parents did to me. I'm wiser, right?". Ben nods, quietly, "Well, so I was carrying my baby, rushing through the city. It was all chaos, but I thought I'd take my son elsewhere, where we could both be safe, together, without abandoning him". She swallows several times, and stops feeding Ben briefly. Ben just observes her. He sees her clenching her teeth in rage and frustration.

"What happened?" Ben asks, coldly, almost like she's giving him a mission report.

"A TIE fighter shot somewhere behind me…" Ben knows where this is going, "And I survived, but the blast made my son fly out of my reach. I saw him being hurled away from me… screaming, losing hope. I saw that that could've been avoided if I'd taken him to my neighbors… or done literally anything else… and in a matter of seconds, I could swear I saw and heard in him the same feeling of abandonment that I had felt over the course of years".

Do I still hate her?

"Sometimes people wrong you and really wrong you…" she says, "But in some cases, it's more complicated than that, and you don't really get that until you feel it…". She feeds Ben another bumcake, as he remains quiet, absorbing what he just heard.

If it'd been me in my parents' place… no, but they did a lot wrong. They kept things from me. My raw strength. My grandfather. Then they sent me away without asking me, precisely because explaining it required exposing their lies. They were wrong. Then Luke consistently rejected me and continued to make me feel like everyone saw me as a monster. He also kept the secret of my grandfather from me. And he wanted to kill me, just because he saw that I was having dark thoughts… But I couldn't not have them! I had felt rejected my whole life! It made sense! The whole world is what didn't make sense. Everyone else. I know now that if I were in their place, I would tell my son the truth, not hide it from him, and be there for him. Not make him feel like he doesn't belong anywhere. I know I would've wanted that. They could've done a lot of good with just that.

Ben eats the last bumcake.

"Well, so that's that…" she says, "I hope they make you feel energized, at least for some time. They take some time to digest, so I would recommend staying awake for a while, until they do". She stands up, brushes the crumbs off of his chest, to which he reacts with subtle shaking and flinching of his face muscles, and then walks off to the door.

What now? She leaves?

"You leave," Ben says.

"That's right," she responds, "I have duties". Ben looks everywhere, wondering what to say. His mouth opens. He breaths in and out silently. She waits to hear what he has to say.

"Tha- The food was very good," he says, "It has made me feel better".

"That's very good," she responds, then turning away again, to leave the room.

"Will I see you again?" Ben asks. She turns back to him.

"Of course you will", she concludes, then turning around once more and leaving the room, "Goodbye!".

Ben's mouth remains open. He closes his teeth and almost mouths the word 'good', but nothing comes out. He then exhales, attempting to clench his fists, but feeling immense pain due to his injuries. On the other side of the galaxy, in the Fegwet system, a small gathering is about to take place in an abandoned library. Rey, Rose, Finn, Poe, Lyn, Viera, Jut-Ho, Ruppe, Loré, Kotto, Ward Junior, Terr and former professor Rhuddal are in the room, standing up, while five people are sitting down in front of them, looking somewhat confused. One of them stands up.

"No, wait, please!" Rey says, "We're about to start". It's true; they were just waiting, hoping that more people would show up.

"Hey, look, girl," the one-eyed, hairy man responds, "I'm sure you guys have good intentions, but I have somewhere else to be, and this is starting to feel like we're alone".

"But you're not!" Rey exclaims, "We came from halfway across the galaxy!".

"No one in here wants to fight the First Order!" he says, "I'm sorry". He then turns around to leave.

"Then the First Order has already won!" Rhuddal says.

"Well, they killed my parents, so they might as well have!" he responds.

"No, we have to fight!" Finn says.

"We're gonna get ourselves killed" another non-human alien sitting down adds.

"We need all the help we can get!" Rose says, "We're going all-in for this. We want to change the galaxy, but we need your help".

"Why?" the one-eyed visitor asks.

"Because the First Order literally needs you. You're the ones that do the work!" Rose argues, "If everyone opposes them, what will they do?"

"Use the Stormtroopers, maybe?" another alien sitting down asks.

"We're bringing them to our side as well," Rose adds. Everyone's expressions change. Some change to utter shock and others to worry, "We leave the First Order alone. That's how we win".

"No… it isn't… that not gonna… that can't happen… it just proved to me that everything you said was mistaken and stupidly hopeful", the one-eyed visitor says, then turning over and walking away, "You want irrational hope. You came to the wrong planet!". Everyone is left with no distinguishable reaction after that.

"That was really hard…" Terr says, "I'm gonna go get some air," he walks out of the room. The four other visitors stand up slowly and walk away. The Rebels sigh collectively. Outside the library, Terr catches up to the one-eyed visitor, "Sir!" he screams.

"What?"

"What's your name?" Terr asks.

"Lauro," the visitor responds, "Why?".

"I didn't have a name. I was a Stormtrooper, but these guys found me and showed me the right way," he explains. Lauro looks at him like he's a madman, "And I'm not the only one. The man who told you we had to fight… he was a Stormtrooper too! Throughout my three years of service, there were twenty seven reported deserters! Twenty seven! And that was without guidance," Lauro's expression changes slowly, "I know things look awful, and everyone is hopeless in here… but that's the point! That's why it's important! The most hopeless planet in the galaxy rises and takes down the First Order's literal base in here! Imagine the noise! Imagine how the tide will rise! We need a place and a people who think they've already lost their chance. You think this is the wrong planet to start a galaxy-wide revolution? Mister Lauro, with all due respect, and you can quote me on this, my self-assigned name is Terr, this is the only planet where we can do this". Lauro is speechless despite his mouth being slightly open after hearing Terr's words. He closes his mouth, swallows, and then finally responds.

"I- You want the impossible…" he says, as he walks off, looking down to the ground, in catharsis. Finn comes out of the library and bumps Terr's shoulders in a friendly manner.

"Hey, you alright?" he asks.

"Yeah," Terr responds, "I just… thought I could make a difference. Like you made in me".

"We'll get through this…" Finn says, faking a smile as optimistically as he can, "Let's get back inside".

Rey roars and pushes a pile of books off a table.

"When you're done acting like a seven year old…" Rhuddal says, judgmentally.

"I can be angry!" Rey shoots back.

"Fine…" Rhuddal backs off, literally and figuratively, "Just so long as you put them back on their place…".

"Nobody comes to this library, anyway," Rose says. She deals with her own disappointment sitting down on the floor and looking like she shrank herself, hugging her legs and burying her face into them. Rey's jaw shakes and she frowns impossibly. She raises her arms, opens her palms, and closes her eyes, still looking menacingly angry. The remaining Rebels just watch, while pacing and dealing with the defeat on their own. Rey uses the Force to pull every single book on the shelves, from the bottom to the one too far up to even be seen from the floor, away from their resting place. She growls as she does the motion. The books shake mid-air. Rhuddal looks worried, but also fascinated. She tries to count the books in the air with her mind, but it's pointless. There's too many of them. Rey growls once again, harder, and pushes the books exactly back into their place at the same time, creating an overwhelmingly strong sound; like two indestructible rocks hitting each other. Rey catches her breath and then lies against the wall, trying to relax.

"We couldn't get… more than five people…" she says, with intermittent breathing, "And we still failed… with all of them…".

"This isn't hopeless…" Rhuddal comments.

"I know it isn't! But damn it," Rey seems almost in pain, shaking her head 'no' constantly, "Sometimes it's hard to keep that hope! Things look bleaker than usual…".

Ben wakes up in pain. His scream alerts Burnhar, so he suddenly walks in.

"Morning, Ben…" he says, "Late start!".

"Humorous," Ben responds, "Feed me. I need to be better soon".

"Ben," Burnhar says as he approaches the bed, "We had our local medic see you yesterday. You wouldn't even wake up, but he saw your wounds, your state. He estimates that you will need at least a hundred days of healthy life and treatment to recover".

"He doesn't know me," Ben responds, defensively, "I'm more powerful and can heal faster". Burnhar walks over to the left side of Ben's bed.

"Touch me with your right hand," Burnhar says, "Preferably without yelling".

Touch him?

"You think I couldn't?" Ben asks, threateningly.

"Why do you take everything as a challenge against your ego?" Burnhar asks, "Now, touch me".

Ben frowns and his breathing rate increases. He's angry.

How dare he talk to me like that?

Ben straightens up, now sitting down on the bed, and tries to twist his back so that his right arm can go across, but the moment he rotates, he starts to yell and shake.

"You're gonna hurt yourself more if you keep straining yourself," Burnhar warns, but then he extends his arm and touches Ben's right hand before it can go across the bed, "But if you allow us to help you out, this can go out in a smoother way".

Why is- What is he…

"Go back to your resting position, Ben," Burnhar says, ducking and picking up a box with surgical tools, "I need to work on your injuries".

Ben aggressively falls back into lying on the pillow.

"I thought you weren't a medic," he says, his breath still slowing down from how it was seconds ago.

"I'm not, but I do not want our medic to come deal with you," he says, as he pulls out some of the instruments and leaves them on a table nearby, "As it turns out, most people do not enjoy being yelled at… and with the work he has to do, I would've been surprised if you didn't manifest your anger as violence against him. I asked him to teach me the basics over the past few days".

What?

"You learned how to do this just to help me?" Ben asks.

"That's what I said," Burnhar says, "I hope it works".

Ben swallows, nervously. What is he feeling? This man just gave up his time to learn something just to help him. He cared for him.

"That was an important decision you made," Ben says, nodding, nervously, flinching.

"We're about to see just how much," Burnhar says, as he pulls over a chair, "Extend your arm over here, please, with your palm opened upwards". Ben obeys, revealing several scars, including a few visibly open wounds. He looks faithfully at the man helping him.

"Be careful," he warns.

"Sure, of course," Burnhar responds. He then puts on a pair of elastic globes and pulls out pieces of cloth and humidifies them, "Now, this will help anesthetize your muscles, and it will make you fall asleep. When that happens, I'll start working on your arm".

A week later, back in Fegwet, Finn and Terr are having a drink on a quiet bar. They both wear inconspicuous, green-ish, baggy clothing.

"In hindsight, I think the most blatantly, insultingly propagandistic thing they ever showed us at our camp was a video of a man pretending to be Luke Skywalker…" Terr says, with a bottle in one hand and his chin in the other, as he thinks back to his childhood, "… and he came into a village with a bunch of kids, all wielding swords... ".

"Laser swords?" Finn asks.

"Not so much, no…" he chuckles. Finn laughs out loud, "I don't think they had the budget for that. Just regular swords. And they destroyed the village!".

"I vaguely remember something like that!" Finn says, "Could it have been the same video?".

"I wouldn't discard that…" Terr says, then drinking from his bottle.

"You know, with all of that indoctrination and training we go through," Finn says, "It's a little hard to understand what was going on back in that Star Destroyer. What happened? I remember something… fifty five?".

"Protocol fifty five, yeah," Terr nods, putting down his bottle, "It was an order designed to rebel against Kylo Ren. Hux came up with it and notified some of us… but it was mostly fed by our own distrust and doubt".

"Distrust and doubt of Kylo?" Finn asks.

"Just in general," Terr reminisces, "With Snoke gone, things lost meaning. He started it, so we just… we all fell into doubt when, all of a sudden, he was gone and we had to serve Kylo". Finn listens attentively, quietly, "We lost that sense of purpose, that idea we had of the path we were going to take… and after that lost purpose, doubt sets in… you wonder if there's a better way to live… you grow tired of what was once routine. Eventually, I believe, with enough good influence… with the promise of peace, they could all turn".

"Terr, exactly!" Finn agrees, "They need to know that the First Order is nothing without them. That if they turn, if they set themselves free, if they all do it, then there will be no one to punish them for it".

"Yeah, but how do we do that?" Terr asks, "We couldn't even turn Waldenhur and Cade".

"Yet!" Finn says, raising his index finger as if he'd just solved an impossible question, "Do you know where they are?".

"Yeah, I saw them the other day while giving out flyers," Terr responds.

"Let's turn them to the light," Finn says, clenching his fist and quickly getting up from his seat, "We have to keep trying," and, suddenly, his eyes are enlightened, "And I think I have an idea. Follow me; we have to pay a visit to the Millennium Falcon".

A while later, Waldenhur and Cade are on what's called a "Takedown circle" club; several privileged people surround a cage, inside of which there are six aliens arranged on a circle. There's a circle drawn on the ground as well, within the confines of the cage. The aliens inside wear minimal clothing and look sweaty and tired, as the audience around them cheers. Waldanhur and Cade are on the bar, watching the cage from a slightly higher ground. They are drinking, looking unmotivated and tired.

"Did you bet on any of them?" Waldenhur asks.

"I have twice as many credits right now as I did last night," Cade responds, "No more betting today, I don't wanna take chances".

"That's smart," Waldenhur nods. They both drink, "You're smart for this; it's good you're in charge of that".

"Yeah," Cade says, then burping and looking sick, "now all we need is someone in charge of making life here not feel miserable". The tall, dirty, octopus-looking creature behind the bar places a bottle in front of the former troopers.

"Care for another bottle?" he asks.

"No…" Cade says. The creature puts the bottle back on a safe.

"Then I must reluctantly but surely solicit you to stand up and walk away from your current seats," he says, pointing with three arms to the exit, "Your earlier state, of requiring a compulsory purchase and consumption of pleasuring and highly toxic drinks to give you the illusion of plenitude, is what meant a significant contribution to my business. Your current, more aware stat-".

"Yeah, yeah!" Cade says, "We'll leave". Coincidentally, a bulky, caped man with sheets wrapped around his face sits down right after they leave. The two deserters walk outside of the club. Right beside the door, Terr awaits.

"Good to see you, guys," he says, "Feeling fulfilled already?" he asks, bumping them both on their backs.

"What do you want?" Cade asks, pushing his former partner away.

"Can't you see?" Terr asks, "You're living day-to-day, and only drinking… and that which you saw inside there…" his volume increases more with each passing second, "That's what this whole place, this whole galaxy, is like! Those poor guys fighting, attacking each other, so that the careless conformists with a semi-stable job watching them can feel comfortable, all ultimately going into the pockets of the heartless rich monster who finances this whole thing!".

"We know how this works!" Waldenhur howls, "Why are you acting like we don't?".

"Because you're acting like you don't," he responds, bluntly, "If you're not fighting these things, you're allowing them to happen… supporting them".

"We know!" Cade yells. Suddenly, though, they hear an unfamiliar voice.

"Hands up!" he orders, approaching as they halt and obey him.

"We were not doing anything, sir," Cade says, "Code-".

"Shut up," the trooper says, aiming right at Cade's face, "I could move my finger and destroy your skull, pathetic scum". Cade simply swallows, frightened. They lasted approximately ten days away from the First Order, and every single one of those days was used for nothing. The trooper turns to Terr, "You were spotted a few days ago rumoring about a Rebellion," he says, then, in the blink of an eye, grabbing Terr and pulling him to the ground, fiercely. The trooper then aims at him, and Terr closes his eyes, hoping against hope that his friends come to their senses. And sure enough, Cade and Waldenhur maneuver to disarm the trooper and push him to the ground, then turning the tables and aiming at his face. The trooper puts his hands in front of his helmet, as if they would help in covering. They then realize the irony of the situation.

"Wait, don't shoot him!" Terr says, from the ground.

"That's… that's Finn, isn't it?" Cade says, smugly.

"Actually," Finn says as he walks out of the club, removing the sheets from around his head "That was my plan… but he trusted you enough to actually get a current trooper. I just told him that a Rebel sympathizer that looked like him was here. No evidence of any kind is needed, really. You know how we're trained".

"But don't kill him," Terr begs, "We used to be him. Let's give him the second chance we were given".

"What are you talking about?" the trooper asks. Cade struggles, but finally puts down the blaster.

"Fine," he turns and offers Terr his hand, helping him to stand up, "You were right, you arrogant fool. Now, let's take this guy back to base".

Ben woke up slowly. The sunlight came through his eyelids and illuminated his brown eyes. He was able to rub his eyes with his left hand. The forearm overall still looks damaged, but it feels lighter, painless.

"Comfortable?" Burnhar asks. He's been standing next to the door for some time.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ben asks.

"Well, you're my guest," Burnhar responds, "And, also, I'm looking at the whole town," he raises his eyebrows and points to the wall on Ben's left side. He hadn't noticed before, but there's a window, and outside, there are about fifteen people on a large table, cooking and baking, while five other villagers await and clean up, "It's dinner time".

"Good" Ben adds.

I can feel my arm, and it's no longer killing me. My back feels different too, what's going on?

"Why does my back feel lighter?" Ben asks.

"What pained you the most was an infection," Burnhar walks toward a bureau by the nearest wall and grabs a covered-up beaker sitting on it. The beaker has a green liquid on the inside, and some small bugs, "These little parasites. You're still wounded, but the potions I used flushed them out. Now you can move like a… well, like a person who's been through thirty fights in one day".

He didn't have to do that.

"All right," Ben says, biting his lips, unsure, "That was a thoughtful addition to the… procedure".

You need to eat.

"I'm hungry!" Ben says, as Burnhar is just turning around to leave. He turns back to Ben.

"I would imagine, yes," Burnhar nods, "But at the moment, all the food we have is out there. If you want it-".

"Fine," Ben interrupts him, "I'll go out there".

"Do you promise to be on your best behavior?" Burnhar asks, like a father confronting his son about indecent manners.

The woman from the other day may be out there. And Burnhar will keep you safe. And they'll feed you.

"How many people are there?" Ben asks.

"Well, some are still inside their homes, but I can promise you there won't be forty people," Burnhar responds, smiling.

Being around too many people sounds exhausting.

"I… I'm afraid that it would be too much for me," Ben says, hoping to get Burnhar to bring him food to the room instead. Burnhar is up to his tactics, though. He puts his hands on his hips, like he was a father who just caught his son stealing.

"All that I used," Burnhar says, "Literally and figuratively… came from all of them out there. You're here, painless, now, because of them. I'm not saying you owe them anything. They did it out of good will, but come on… Let them know you, at least. Just a few minutes".

I will not be able to contain myself. I will explode against everyone present. This is a bad idea.

"Okay…" Ben nods, "I'll wait until tomorrow," he says, this time honestly. Burnhar chuckles.

"Interesting," he says, "You didn't threaten me or yell at me".

"Why would I do that?" Ben asks, seeming exasperated. Burnhar smiles.

"I don't know…" he says, then walking off, "Good night, Ben. Someone will bring you food in a moment".

What was that? What happened? I thought he wanted me to go out there if I wanted to eat. He lied, just like everyone else does. Surely…

But why?

Why am I thinking such things? He just healed me and said I would be fed. Why did I feel the need to… and why am I questioning this?

A familiar face walks in. Ben hoped to see her outside, but she's come with a bowl filled with soup and a dish with roasted meat, along with cutlery. Ben's eyes widen upon seeing her.

"You busy?" she asks, as she walks closer to him.

"No. I am physically incapacitated, still," he responds, again, as if giving a military report, "I'm unable to do anything that involves getting out of this bed". She laughs.

"You're a funny man," she says, leaving the dish and the bowl over his legs, "I hope sometime soon you can join us out there".

What do I say?

Ben simply swallows, keeps his mouth forcibly shut, visibly, and nods. She leaves the room, as Ben begins to drink the soup.

Galaxies away, in Coruscant, a man Ben hasn't thought about in a while looks out a window. Below, hundreds of civilians have been forced to work in rebuilding the city. Hux walks up to the Supreme Leader.

"Supreme Leader…" Hux says, even though he's been told repeatedly that he's the real Supreme Leader, it hasn't felt like it. The power he's always craved, which he thought was his for a moment, is ultimately very fragile, "You wanted to dis-"

"We can frame this differently… there's a way to ensure this keeps going for longer," Ducan says, "And you're gonna like this idea".

Hux just remains quiet, knowing he could be killed if he says anything Ducan doesn't agree with.

"Under Snoke's leadership, matters got a little too overt," he paces around Hux, like he was marking his territory, "Dictatorships last longer when they're disguised as fair systems". Hux swallows and finally speaks.

"So what do you propose?" he asks, looking everywhere except to Ducan's face, "We destroyed the New Republic".

"Yes, but we can walk out of this," Ducan hypothesizes. He gets closer to Hux's face with his motions, "We can blame it on Kylo Ren and Snoke, say they were a poison that's now gone… we could also frame the Republic as corrupt, make up evidence… we have a number of options to turn the First Order into another Republic in name… and keep this going endlessly".

Hux's mouth twists and his stomach revolts some.

"Sir, but would that not make things more difficult?" he asks.

"What would they do?" Ducan asks, nonchalantly, "We'll be behind the scenes on everything and make things work our way". Hux can't entirely process what's being discussed. As it's been recently, he's more concerned with saying whatever will protect him than actually thinking.

"We should take it to our fellow higher-ranks…" he comments.

"I agree," Ducan says, finally walking away from Hux. The young general's shoulders loosen up noticeably after this, as he sighs silently, "We must structure this properly… Make it look like democracy is real. Long live the First Order".