Chapter 16 – According to Plan

After seeing that his Uncle behaved himself while training Rey, Kylo returned to his quarters.

"You're a hard man to get a hold of." Leia stood firm in his path with her arms crossed. Kylo didn't move to acknowledge her. "Ben."

Kylo flinched. "General."

"Mother," she corrected. "Nine hours of labor, and this is the kind of treatment I get."

Kylo rolled his eyes, then turned to keep walking.

She shook her head. "I could use your intel. Rey wants me to approve a mission to Lothal." Ben stopped walking and cocked his head at her name. "Without better intel I can't send anyone there, and I can't stop the girl from going alone either."

Kylo took a deep breath. "What do you want to know?"

Leia refrained from smiling, but her eyes still showed their happiness. "Anything you can tell me about Ake's Tavern and the Knights of Ren. Come to my office." Kylo turned and followed Leia.

Luke returned to his meditation space to find a rather gleeful force ghost waiting for him.

"This is great!" Anakin cheered with his fists. "Tell me, how did it go? Did they talk? Did they hold hands?" His questions were shot out on rapid fire.

"No! This isn't a good thing," Luke Spat. "IF I am going to train Ben to fight his dark side tendencies, I need to do so without distractions. And while the girl is very well trained in the light side, for someone trained by a Sith Lord. She's still only recently lost her master. And she's clearly emotionally attached to that… that…"

Anakin's face became more serious listening to his Son's rant. "You forget, Palpy has no dark side components. He merely has the face and memories of the man. And we would never allow the girl to be trained in any way resembling dark side techniques."

"It's still wrong, on so many levels," Luke growled.

"Obi-Wan's still giving me flack about this, and now you," Anakin sighed. "Her original master was a junk boss! One of the lowest caliber. You think I was bad? All of my apprentices were well fed at night. The girl was skin and bones. All we needed was for him to discover what power lay within his grasp, and then…" Anakin waved his hands to indicate an explosive situation. "At the time I was forbidden from having any contact with Ben, and at the time Ben was with you. The girl needed a guardian."

Luke nodded his understanding.

"So, how did it go?" Anakin smiled again.

Luke sighed. "It went fine," he rolled his eyes. "No one was injured. And no one is ever holding hands during one of my lessons."

Anakin crossed his arms and shook his head. "That explains your love life."

"Oo-ooh," Luke growled.

Anakin vanished from the relm after quirking his lip in a final smile.

"First of all, it's not just a cantina," Kylo started. He was standing next to the databank in his mothers office. Having refused her offer of food he was eager to get this over with. "It's a whole criminal syndicate. The entrance is here." He pointed to a location in an alleyway. "The password to enter is: Black Raven One. Most of those there will be armed, but you'll find they're little more than drunk gamblers and roughnecks. A few bounty hunters will give some trouble, but the Knights of Ren are your biggest threat."

Leia took some notes, and turned to study the image better.

"The girl can't go in there." Kylo's voice was soft.

"Hmm?" Leia looked up at her son.

"This mission is too dangerous. For the knights killing is their nature. She doesn't have the skills yet to go up against one of them, let alone six."

"The girl only agreed to leave Jakku after Palpy was taken. If she decides to go, I doubt there's anything I could do to stop her."

Kylo sighed in annoyance.

Leia continued, "She's a lot like you, you know. Stubborn and hard to sway. She won't listen to my orders. I'm not her commander. I'm not even her mother."

Kylo turned to stare into his mother's eyes. "Then send me in. I'll go to Lothal and help with the mission." He thought, then turned back to her and pointed. "This one mission, and that's it. Don't count on me to join your resistance."

Leia nodded and smiled the second he turned back towards the screen.

"What!" Luke had just heard his sister describe her planned mission to raid some tavern in Lothal. He crossed his arms and scrunched his eyebrows.

Leia sighed. "My office now." They were in a large meeting room with other resistance members. She would not discuss this here.

Han and Chewy followed Luke and Leia to her office.

"What do you mean, you're sending Ben in there!" Luke started to rant as soon as they were behind her door.

"This is all going as planned," Han tried.

Chewy growled something.

"Okay plan B," Han rephrased.

Chewy said something else.

"Well more like plan G then, but it's still part of the plan." Han turned back to Luke. "We've had to modify it a bit because we didn't originally predict Palpy being taken, or Ben coming back so soon, but getting him to agree to help us was always a step."

Luke rubbed his face. "You don't mean my blasted father's plan, do you? I can't believe you're going along with that."

"We were doubtful at first too, but he did get Ben to come home," said Leia.

"The boy has just left the dark side. He's not prepared for the temptations he'll face going in there." Luke huffed. The resolved look in Han and Leia's eyes did not waiver. "Alright. But I'm going in with him." Luke crossed his arms to show his resolve.

"Very good, you want to tell him the second part of the plan?" Leia asked.

Luke looked back and forth between the two. "I have a bad feeling about this. Alright, lets hear your plan."

Rey paced outside of Leia's office. It had been a whole day since she told the General about what Ben told her, and she hadn't heard anything. She was feeling tense, worrying that Leia wouldn't even approve a mission. Leia did say she was anxious about sending teams in without more, what did she say, tactical information. But then wouldn't Ben know that kind of stuff? He made it sound like he'd been there before.

Rey looked up to check with the Lieutenant. "She's still busy," the woman replied.

"Thank you," Rey sighed, and she wondered if she'd ever get in to see Leia. If she doesn't approve this mission, It'll all be up to you.

Leia's door opened up, and the woman barked out an order, "Connix get me that senate report.

Rey took the opportunity to lean her head into the office. "General Leia, if I may?"

"Oh, Rey. I don't have much time, but what is it you want?" Leia looked up with a serious expression on her face.

"Ma'am, I was wondering about the mission. Did you make a decision yet?"

"Mission, which mission was this?" Leia looked confused.

"Uh, the one to rescue Palpy… On Lothal. I told you about it yesterday." Rey's eyes pled desperation.

"Oh, yes. Now, let's see. Where is that file?" Leia began to search her desk drawers.

"I just want to know if you've decided to send in anyone?" Rey asked.

Leia pulled out a data stick and plugged it into her holo screen. "No, not this one. The resistance has teams on so many missions right now." Leia pulled out the data stick and began searching again. "Ah-ha," She pulled out another stick. "I think I've found it." After plugging it in and reading its contents with a serious face, she looked back up at Rey. "Yes, I've approved a small team to send to Ake's Tavern on Lothal. The primary mission objective will be to learn where Palpy is being held or to confirm his demise. If it can be achieved safely, a rescue attempt will be performed."

"Yes, thank you very much. Before now, I hadn't realized how busy the resistance is. Palpy will appreciate all you've done to save him," Rey said politely.

"Thank you, my dear. And remember, whatever happens, you'll have a place to stay with us." Leia's words troubled Rey. She looked so serious when she said 'whatever happens.'

"If it helps, I'll offer to go too. On the mission, I mean." Rey looked down, fighting her own tears.

Leia shook her head. "You're not under my command, but I don't think…"

"I'm not staying back!" Rey proclaimed. "If there's a chance to rescue Palpy, I am going to take it. I won't see a good chance lost while your men argue over risks. I'm going to Lothal, and I'm going to bring him back."

Leia solemnly nodded. "I'll have them send you the briefing then."

As Rey walked out, Leia smiled and clicked her comm. "All is a go. She demanded to be put on the mission roster."

Han smiled back at her.

Luke's face became even more serious. "First Ben, and now the girl. Tell me again why this makes for a good plan?"

"Because, Ben's demands to go were under the understanding that the girl would be going too," Leia explained.

"You won't catch me saying this again, but the boy has a point. It's a very risky mission, even for your trained soldiers."

"I'm sending her in with the second team. Plus she'll have you and Ben to protect her." Leia pointed out.

"Well, I will certainly try to keep her safe, but I can't predict what Ben will do," said Luke.

"Haven't you noticed? That boy's been getting awfully protective of her," Han asked.

Luke's face scrunched up in confusion. "No, I…"

"All those lessons that he insists on being a part of," Han said. "The way he's been acting you'd think you were a womanizer or a ladies man." He chuckled. "That or some type of killer."

Luke opened his eyes in shock.

"It's all a part of their connection, that Force-bond thingy, according to what your father tells us," Han continued.

Luke looked down in confusion and guilt. Leia supposed it was because he hadn't seen it before. None of them had. But that didn't matter now. Now all that mattered was they were going to save Ben.

I hope you get the humerous components of the chapter, and that you don't blame Leia for being too manipulative. She's only doing what she feels is best. The next chapter may take me a bit of time, as it is an action heavy chapter, and I always struggle with those. Please leave comments, those are positive reinforcement and get me to write more.