Jeyna paces the main hold, anxiety rising without another outlet. Revan had lost consciousness after his cryptic answer, and she has no idea how to take it. She doesn't have much space, and resorts to making laps back and forth. Her mind spins uselessly over his words.
What had Revan meant, that they couldn't stop him? Surely there must be a way to defeat the Emperor, if they worked together? She had felt that Ben was stronger, his presence had been more than enough to push him from her mind.
But then, Jeyna realizes, there is the fact that Bastila never returned. Surely, she would have come back for Revan, had she found a way to defeat the Emperor, Vitiate. Perhaps her failure to return was an ominous sign…
"You're going to wear tracks in the metal," Ben observes, emerging from the medbay door as she turns to make yet another pass.
"Is he still out?" she asks. He nods.
"He's weak. I think he'd be dead by now, if he weren't so strong with the force. It might be the only thing holding him together," Ben explains, coming forward to catch her gently in his arms. Unable to march her frustrations away, she works her bottom lip with her teeth instead.
"Try to settle," Ben suggests softly. She stares down, and realizes his energy is much calmer than hers at the moment. She centers her attention on him, trying to steady her nervous brain.
"I should have known better, I should have realized it was a trap. You even said so, and I didn't listen," she says hurriedly, the words tumbling from her lips.
Ben shakes his head. "Jeyna, stop."
"There were warnings, and I didn't see them," she insists. "All of those people on the Finalizer, they're all dead, because I was too stupid to-"
She's cut off when he cradles her face between his large hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Stop," he orders firmly.
Jeyna stops at the sound of his tone, surveying his warm eyes and trying to catch her breath. She curls her hands around his wrists, hanging onto him. "There will always be death and destruction in the galaxy. As long as there is the force, and force users, this will happen," Ben says slowly. "The fault does not lie with you."
She takes in what he says, silent for a minute. But her mind is still stubbornly churning, working over all the mistakes that led to here. "But… how did I not see it sooner? Logically, it makes sense Bastila was trying to discourage finding the star maps-"
"Jeyna."
She falls silent at the warning way he speaks her name, as his power surges heavier around her. It feels like he's sedating her, pulling the anxiety from her nerves and replacing it with something less frenetic. The tension relaxes from her muscles, eased by his influence.
"You heard what Revan said, didn't you? About feeling your curiosity when you were young? That your mind called out to him?" he asks. She nods. "After thousands of years locked into stasis with his enemy, unable to escape… he felt his chance for freedom calling out to him. Don't you think he reached out to you, as well? Maybe he didn't mean to, maybe it was all instinct. But I would assume he was urging you on, at some level."
Jeyna considers it, taken aback by the suggestion. Is it possible Revan had influenced her mind, for all those years? She'd been obsessed with Revan, with trying to learn everything she could about him. Out of all the studies she could have thrown herself into, all of the topics she could have pursued… was there more to her choosing to focus on Revan?
"Wouldn't I have known, if that was happening? Felt it, or…" she drifts off, uncertain.
Ben shakes his head slightly. "Manipulation of the mind can be a very subtle thing. I would know."
Jeyna sighs, but it feels as though he's lifted a burden from her. The guilt is lessened, the edge of panic she'd been teetering on having smoothed out into something more stable. She presses forward to bury her face in his chest, gripping handfuls of his shirt tightly. Ben wraps his arms around her, and she lets that be all that occupies her mind, for the time being.
D'Qar
A few hours later, and they are coming down to land at the Rebel base on D'Qar. Jeyna watches from behind Ben as they descend, the sight of green hills nestled in surrounding jungle marking their destination. As they get closer to the ground, she sees a paved section between the hills, with scattered Resistance ships dotting the area. The only other evidence of a human presence are the communication relays, dishes and equipment set up to handle large amounts of transmissions.
"Where is the base?" she asks in confusion. She doesn't see any buildings.
"It looks like they've built it into the natural terrain," Ben remarks curiously. "Probably mostly underground. No wonder nothing turned up on preliminary scans, it wouldn't stand out against the jungle."
"The First Order won't be able to find us here, right?" Jeyna asks, half paranoid.
Ben takes a moment to answer, focusing on setting them smoothly down between the hills. She can see the massive doors now, built into hills on either side of where they have landed.
"I don't think so. They'll likely be preoccupied elsewhere."
Jeyna furrows her brow. "Elsewhere?"
Ben stands, making for the main hold in a hurry. She notes the way he doesn't answer her, that feeling of something wrong returning to their connection. She tries to examine it closer as she follows him to the hatch. There's something he's holding back, Jeyna is sure of it.
He opens the hatch, hesitating at the sight of the Rebel medics already making their way out to them. They are supporting a stretcher between them, and though their faces look nervous as they approach, their pace doesn't break.
"He's out cold, but probably skip sedation if he comes to. He doesn't seem to like that," Ben suggests, jerking his head back towards the medbay as they start up the ramp.
"Is he stable?" one of the men asks.
"Stable enough," Ben answers vaguely. Jeyna focuses her eyes on him suspiciously, feeling that something that he is trying to hide from her. It preoccupies his mind, but she doesn't know enough of the force to push into his thoughts more.
The medics disappear around the corner to the medbay, and Ben starts down the ramp. Jeyna sees his destination, as Leia and Poe appear in the massive doorway that opens into the nearest hill. Poe looks much more relaxed than the last time she'd seen him, but she notices he still hovers protectively near Leia's shoulder.
She sends one last glance towards the medbay before following Ben down the ramp, squinting as the bright sunlight strikes her eyes. The air on D'Qar is warmer than the cool ship, and she can't help but appreciate the sun heating her skin.
They cross the pavement, coming to a stop a few feet from Leia and Poe. Jeyna realizes with embarrassment she is almost definitely wearing the woman's former clothing. She fights the urge to fiddle nervously with the edge of the borrowed shirt, or to attempt to smooth out her hair. She shoots a glance at Ben, at the bruises still apparent on his face, his hair mussed. She guesses they both must look like a mess.
"Hello Ben," Leia greets her son with a gentle acknowledgement, before giving Jeyna a small smile. "Jeyna, I'm sad to say, I wish we were meeting again under better circumstances."
"You're telling me that guy is thousands of years old?" Poe interjects in disbelief. Jeyna follows his eyes back towards the Millennium Falcon, where the medics are carefully bringing Revan down out of the ship.
"It's good you brought him to us, we have a very capable medical team," Leia says. "Has he spoken at all since you recovered him?"
"Only to confirm that whatever Hux is now, he'll bring the Eternal Empire if he can reach them," Ben answers. "We'll need to talk to him again when he's recovering."
Leia nods. "Of course. We will approach this as a temporary alliance, you will be granted full access to him while he is in our care," she assures.
Ben nods. "Good." Jeyna notices the awkwardness in his tone, but is glad that his tension at interacting with his mother has lessened since the last time.
The medics pass by, taking Revan deeper into the Rebel base. Leia gestures for them to follow her. As they head inside, Jeyna tries to ignore the way the resistance members stare as they pass. Some of them look upset, and she wonders just how bad their recent losses were. Ben hadn't specified, and she hadn't gotten the chance to ask for more details.
They end up in a meeting room, with a circular table designed to project holorecordings in the center. It is currently projecting a map of the galaxy, the planets and stars casting a blue glow to the room. "What do you know about the Eternal Empire?" Leia asks Ben as they gather around the table.
He hesitates before answering, voice guarded. "The rumors I heard only said that their territory is well past the unknown regions. That the empire was waiting for a strong enough leader to begin an invasion."
"How do we begin to fight a threat that we know nothing about…" Leia muses quietly, her eyes searching the map between them.
"I suggest we focus our efforts on Hux. The Emperor might be weak for now, but by taking Hux he has control of the First Order. We need to stop them before he gets any more powerful, and cut him off from reaching the Empire," Ben says firmly.
Leia considers that, nodding. "We had a few ideas, but your input might change them. Anything you can tell us about where to target-"
"General, are we really going to trust them?" Poe speaks up from where he's been lingering, towards the back of the room. "We need to be careful. The Republic can't take another hit like Hosnian Prime."
Jeyna snaps her attention to Poe, concerned. "They attacked Hosnian Prime?!"
When Poe fails to answer her, she looks to Leia. But the older woman's gaze is focused on Ben, and Jeyna trails her eyes to look at him as well. He shifts, guilt surging through their bond, to look at her. "I was going to tell you, but I didn't want to overwhelm you."
"Tell me what?" Jeyna demands. But Ben doesn't answer, his eyes pleading with her.
"Hosnian Prime is gone. The entire planet, everything on it, is dead," Poe speaks up finally, his gentle tone tempering the blunt words. "He did it with the force somehow, he stripped it bare."
"The ritual of Nathema," Jeyna whispers in horror.
Ben's gaze holds hers as she feels like the floor is tilting, throwing her balance off. She turns from him, suddenly needing to make a hasty retreat from the room. He grabs her arm. "Jeyna, please, wait-"
She attempts to rip her arm away, intent on escaping them and finding solitude, but he hangs on. "Let me go," she demands.
"I was only trying to give you a moment of calm, before adding more bad news," Ben says quickly. "You were already upset, I just wanted-"
"You wanted to hide it from me!" She interrupts, indignation overwhelming any common sense. "You had no right. Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle the truth?"
"Of course not," Ben insists urgently. "You've had to handle so much, I just wanted to protect you."
"So you protected me with your dishonesty?" she asks in disbelief. Ben's eyes are pained, and she can't return his gaze any longer. She pulls her arm again, and he releases his hold of her. Jeyna can't bring herself to look at Leia or Poe, hurrying from the room.
She needs to be alone, needs space, the earlier panic returning again so soon. It lingers at the edge of her mind, pressing closer as she walks as fast as she can back through the Rebel base. She pays no attention to anyone she passes, blindly focused on returning to the Millennium Falcon.
Later
Jeyna stares at the navigation map in the cockpit, as the planet of Hosnian Prime revolves slowly on the screen. She's managed to calm herself, though her cheeks are damp with the evidence of her emotions. The statistics for the planet are displayed beneath its image, and she focuses on the population number.
How powerful would the Emperor be, now? Would it be enough, or was he going to continue consuming entire planets, fueling his power in the force? She curls further into the flight seat, trying to not imagine worse than what has already happened. As soon as Revan wakes, they will need more answers from him.
Her mind turns to Ben, and she closes her eyes, letting her head relax back. She's grateful he's stayed away, and let her process the news on her own. She doesn't need forced calm, not when it comes to this. Her anger at him has passed, though she still feels indignant that he withheld information. Did he view her as so incapable, that he'd have to protect her like a child? The thought stings.
Jeyna wants to be stronger, to be able to take things in stride and keep fighting. But she's never had to fight this much in her life, the previous span of her existence feeling dull and emotionless in comparison. Did Ben view her reactions as a weakness? She had thought he understood, after sensing just as much intensity in his feelings.
Perhaps his actions had been well intended, but she can't help but feel a bit resentful. She can hide nothing from him, her every thought laid bare to his power and their connection. His choice to conceal information from her feels unfair.
Jeyna is pulled from her thoughts when she hears the hatch open in the main hold. She stands, wiping beneath her eyes to hide the evidence of her tears. She'll need to talk to Ben eventually, and is curious if they've come up with a plan. She leaves the cockpit, making her way to the exit.
She passes the medbay, only to stop dead in her tracks. Jeyna stares at the man who is not Ben, and he stares back at her. He looks just as surprised as she feels. He's older, hair gray, and he's dressed strangely for being in the Resistance. His clothing looks more like what she'd seen on Nar Shaddaa, a leather jacket and blaster holster visible.
He speaks first. "Who are you, and what you doing on this ship?"
Jeyna raises her eyebrows, unsure how to handle the situation. "Who are you, and what are you doing on this ship?" she finally asks in return.
The man's eyes narrow in irritation, as he gives her a dirty look. "It's my ship!" he snaps.
Her mouth falls open in realization. "You're…You're Han Solo?"