Chapter 23 - Jedi Lesson One

Kylo-no Ben wasn't going to take Luke's decision lightly. What is he thinking? Hux and Phasma as Jedi! Short of Snoke himself, no one in the first order would make a worse Jedi. Luke has to be losing it! Ben thought as he stomped into Luke's meditation space, giving no heed to knock.

"Ben, good. Take a look at this. What do you think?" Luke held out a piece of flimsi.

"What are you thinking? You can't train Hux and Phasma. They're First Order!" Ben shouted.

Luke looked up pointedly, "And so were you."

"Well yeah, but - but that's totally different. Hux built a Death Star, and Phasma was training her men with live ammunition."

Luke tilted his head and huffed. "Ben, if I've learned anything from this, it's that I gave up on you too quickly. And I gave up on the Jedi that same day. I'm giving old things a new chance now. The Jedi need to return. I'm not as young as I used to be."

"So train me and Rey, Mom, even Finn. He's a beginner, but selfless. He's the one part of this that I don't object to." Ben would've suggested Finn, if his Uncle had asked him.

Luke smiled. "The old order was in the thousands. I've trained difficult students before. This'll be no different."

"But you don't understand. Their loyalty is only to themselves. In the First Order, they don't know selflessness. They don't know anything but greed and destruction. I've seen it myself."

Luke gave him an infuriating look, full of pity and he sighed. "That is very sad, but the old Empire was no different. It will be something they will have to learn, if they are willing. All I can do is offer them the chance. The same chance I am giving to you."

Ben sighed. This was getting him nowhere.

"Good, now look at this. What do you think?" Luke again held up the flimsi. On it was a sketch of the room, with a different furniture layout.

Ben sighed, "It looks fine, I guess."

"Thank you. I know interior decorating was never your strong suit. I'll ask Chewy later. I'll need his help moving the furniture anyways." Luke placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. The contact sent a wave of fear through Ben, which produced the instinct to run or fight back, but he resisted the impulse, and it sent a tight shutter through his body. His Uncle seemed to sense it a moment later and removed his hand. "I uh, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Ben went next to see his Mom. If Luke was going to risk everything, then he was going to make sure she knew how crazy her brother was.

"Oh honey, I've known your Uncle was only a few steps short of lunacy since he boarded that death trap of a ship with the smuggler, the wookie, and the old hermit of a Jedi to rescue a princess." His mom let out a chuckle.

Ben stood with his mouth open for a moment. He hadn't said anything since he walked into her office. "Hux and Phasma are not trustworthy. Accepting them is dangerous. Training them is Lunacy."

His mom nodded. "They will be watched. I do trust your Uncle. He's not a perfect man, but it is nice to have him back to his crazy self again. Trust me, the crazy Luke has a lot better ideas than the sane one."

Ben huffed a chuckle.

"I do wish you're First Order friends weren't so dramatic though. Neither of them have accepted new uniforms, and it's freaking people out." His mom leaned back in her seat, exasperated. "Hux isn't too bad. He only looked at our clothes like we were handing him rags, then said something about not wearing a uniform until he has a rank. At least his First Order suits don't have a helmet and armor!"

"They'll get used to it. I hardly get stares anymore, even if I want them." Ben pointed out.

His mom laughed. "And Phasma won't even remove her helmet. Not even on base. I heard she brought the meal we gave them to her quarters to eat alone." She sighed. "They want me to order her to remove it, but I don't think that's wise. My instincts are telling me to wait until she's ready."

Ben nodded. He certainly didn't take long to remove the mask when he arrived, but his family ordering him to wasn't what made him take it off. "I think you're right," he confirmed.

His mom smiled. "Thank you for listening. Do you have something else you came in here for?"

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about Ap'lek, the Knight of Ren prisoner you've got. I want to see him…"

The next day, Ben walked with Rey and Finn to Luke's space for lessons. Finn was a bundle of nerves, and something about the way he fretted made Rey smile. Perhaps she was trying to calm Finn, but it had an effect on Ben as well.

"Come in, Sit down." Luke greeted them.

As they walked into the room, Rey's mouth went down in disbelief. "You've redecorated," she said. Indeed, there were now five desks in the front of the room, and a small meditation corner in the back with a lot more pillows.

"Yes well, I couldn't hold propper classes without furniture, could I." Luke replied.

Ben took the middle seat of the first row, while Finn and Rey sat on either side of him.

Hux and Phasma arrived together shortly after. They took the seats behind Ben and Finn, respectively. Hux still wore a pressed black suit and jacket, minus the first order insignia and rank patch. Phasma did indeed wear her dark armor and mask. Luke must have been expecting this because he didn't look surprised at all when they came in.

Luke smiled broadly at the group. "Welcome to class." The only one who returned his smile was Rey. Finn's breathing became harder, and he was too nervous to smile. Hux held a proud smirk that was anything but happy, and no one knows what was under Phasma's helmet. Ben merely scowled at his uncle. None of this affected Luke though. He pulled out a stack of datapads and passed them around. "We are going to start by studying the Jedi Code. In the old order initiates had to pass a trial proving they had memorized the whole code before they could continue their training. But here, a general understanding of it will be enough. Yes, Ben."

Ben had raised his hand. "I've already learned this."

"Maybe, but it's been a while." Ben opened his mouth to point out that he already had more than a 'general understanding' of it, that he could probably quote most of this code already, but Luke continued. "Then you can help your fellow students, who I'm sure most of this is new for." Ben sighed in resignation. "Good, now Armitage, would you like to start reading chapter one."

Hux lifted his chin and began to read the datapad in front of him. "We, the High Council of Jedi Masters do seek to lay down a path to the light for all who may come after. These codes have been approved by the Council unanimously and will be what measures each new initiate from this time forth…"

"Very good. Please take your copies with you, and write me a report on one of the code's principles. Give examples from everyday life to show your understanding of it, and an argument for or against its inclusion in the order. Tomorrow we will begin basic meditation." Luke's assignment of homework earned him a glare from Ben.

"Finn, will you walk Rey back to her quarters. I want to talk to my Uncle," Ben said.

"I don't need anyone to walk me back," Rey tried to protest. Ben looked past Rey to give Finn a commanding look.

"Yes Sir, Ky- I mean Ben." Finn stuttered. He then took a protective position beside Rey. Hux gave a smirk before he departed with Phasma directly behind him. When they were all out of the room Ben walked over to Luke.

"Uncle Luke," Luke's eyebrows went up in surprise to hear the familial name again. In fact it surprised Ben more to hear it from his own lips. "I need you to talk to my mom. She's being impossible." Luke's eyebrows went up. "I need to talk to Ap'lek and she is refusing."

Luke sighed, "Ben."

"I can get a lot more information out of him than any of her people, and time is a factor here." Ben raised his voice as he spoke.

"I think your mom is worried that confronting him would be too strong a temptation for you. We don't want you to slip again and…"

"And what. Use the dark side. Well the dark side is the only way to get him to talk. He's one of my own men. I trained him myself and he won't talk!" said Ben.

Luke nodded. He sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Hello Everyone,

I've started using google-docs to write, so if you notice any changes to the formatting, that's why.

And about the Jedi Code. There is a certain poem which is our only source of "Jedi Code" we know about, and most fanfictions treat it as the only code there is. But I don't see this as likely. First, whenever they say something is "Against the code," it'd be kinda hard to say that if you were only talking about a poem. No, I think the 'code' is a longer document, and I think the poem is either a part of the document (like the Lords prayer is a part of the Bible) or it's a shortened version used to help the younglings memorize it.

And I know I left it at a cliffhanger. You'll have to wait till next week to find out what Luke's gonna do. My next chapter may be in Luke's POV and I may be playing some with Phasma's character.