Chapter 24 - Decisions and Prophecies

Luke was expecting a force ghost visitor or two sooner or later. With what he was debating, he knew Yoda or Obi-Wan would want to give their opinions eventually. Just that he was hoping to be able to sleep on it first.

Unfortunately, when Luke returned to his quarters after his lessons, and his unsettling discussion with Young Ben, he was met by not just one or two, but a whole cacophony of force ghosts. Yes, Luke decided, that is what a group of force ghosts should be called, a cacophony.

"No, no, no, no." Anakin was hyperventilating. "Your mother would never approve of this."

Luke was surprised to hear his father's mutterings. Though he'd been able to garner some information over the years, especially from Old Ben's force ghost, his father rarely spoke about his mother. There were a lot of painful memories, he'd assumed.

"It's against the code," said a darker skinned former Jedi Master, interrupting Luke's thoughts. Most of the rest muttered in agreement.

"Forget the code, it's just too dangerous. He's got students to teach. If he falls, so do they." Another Jedi spoke up.

"Qui-Gon, the code is what makes us Jedi. Perhaps if you'd followed it more, your line wouldn't have caused so much trouble." The darker skinned Jedi argued back.

"Or perhaps, Master Windu, if you councilors hadn't had your heads lodged so far up…" Qui-Gon argued back.

"Enough!" Luke didn't want to hear the rest. "You all heard what Ben, Young Ben said. This dark side technique is the only thing that'll get the prisoner to talk. And I'm not about to let my nephew do it. I'm the only other option."

The cacophony of Force Ghosts began to holler their objections. One cry came out louder than the rest of them.

"No!" Anakin cried out. Tears were streaming down his face. Many of the others quieted down to stare at him, whispering to themselves.

"Always another option, there is," Yoda finally spoke up, taking advantage of the quiet. "Hope you find it, before unwise action you take, we do." He then left, ushering out the rest of the force-ghosts along with him.

Anakin was the last one to leave. "Don't do this, Son. Please, I can't watch you fall." Luke gulped, unable to form a reply. Anakin blinked away more tears. He stared at Luke a moment, as if he were memorizing the sight, then he vanished.

The next day came, and Luke still hadn't made up his mind. He had a class of students to teach, and after he had them all focus enough to start learning meditation techniques, he thought they deserved a reward. So that afternoon he brought them to the training room and passed out the practice sabers.

The first thing he did was have Rey and Ben demonstrate the initial forms, while he stood back and pointed out what to take note of. "See how she is holding her saber. This allows her to defend herself no matter which way he strikes next. And see Ben's foot placement as he's striking. This is necessary to keep his stability so he doesn't end up falling over."

"Very good, now if we can split up into pairs, you can practice these techniques yourselves."

Armitage and Phasma immediately paired up, and Ben and Rey never did leave each other's side. Big surprise there. That left Finn standing alone. "I'll Practice with you Finn," Luke offered.

Finn proved to be a quick and agile student. He seemed to already have some experience with using similar weapons in his stormtrooper training, and he applied it well.

Luke glanced over at Ben and Rey. The moves they were practicing were well ahead of the rest of the class, but that didn't surprise Luke. He had been giving them private lessons in how to use their bond, and he knew the two were getting stronger fighting back to back.

"It's not fair." Armitage huffed as he turned off his saber and crossed his arms in annoyance. "I don't have armor like you. I can't get in a strike, without you even bothering to parry."

"I'm using my advantages. You don't hear Rey complaining that Ben is so tall, or Finn complaining that Luke is so experienced.

Ben seemed to glance pointedly at Rey, then he walked over to Phasma. "We'll switch. You practice some with Rey," He said to Armitage.

Luke stopped Finn for a moment. He wanted to see what his nephew planned for Phasma. He was slightly in awe of Ben's gall, and slightly afraid for his student.

Ben and Phasma took up the starting position, Phasma went into the offensive right away, and Ben held off for a second before parrying her strikes. Luke saw what Armitage meant as she repeatedly left herself open to strikes, all for putting in more and more powerful strikes against her opponent. Ben seemed to be ignoring all of these openings, however and he just continued to parry. Then in one moment, Ben saw his opportunity. He struck at Phasma's armor, and the girl squealed in shock. His saber left a dent. Another careful strike at the now open side of her neck let her helmet fall off.

"Those are practice Sabers. Mine, however, is real. I know you like training with real world conditions," Ben said.

"That's enough Ben." Luke picked up the helmet and handed it back to the pretty woman underneath all that armor. She blushed as she took it and stomped off. "Alright, let's call it a day."

"What! I was teaching her," Ben squawked in defense when Luke frowned

Luke shrugged off Ben's attempts to talk and left the training room. He found Phasma around the bend in the hallway. She still carried her helmet beside her, it's latch was clearly broken.

"Phasma?" The girl stopped and looked back at him. Her cheeks were still rosy from a blush, and her blue eyes were wide from shock. "Here," Luke held out a hand. Phasma looked down at her helmet. "I know where you can fix your armor." She handed Luke her helmet, which Luke immediately passed to his other hand, and held his hand out to Phasma again, this time with a gentle smile.

Phasma looked nervous to take his hand. Luke supposed she wasn't used to being treated like a lady. But then wearing all that armor, and being in the first order, he supposed it wasn't unexpected. Still, that was something Luke could do something about. When they approached their target, Luke let go of Phasma's hand and ran to hold the door open. Inside was a lab filled with equipment, amongst which were the necessary soldering equipment to repair her armor and helmet.

"I'm not just a Jedi after all. I grew up a farm boy on Tatooine and I did all the repairs to the moisture evaporators and other equipment back then." Luke said as he set her helmet on the table and began working on it.

"Uh-hum," Phasma pulled off her other damaged armor pieces while he was talking. Underneath the armor she wore a thin, black, skin tight suit. Luke looked away immediately to hide a slight blush. "I grew up on a farm too, of sorts. On Parnassos, where the land was ravaged by a nuclear disaster, and there wasn't much land that could grow things. I got used to fixing things too. Whenever the Clans attacked."

"Parnassos, I've heard of it's clan wars. That must have been rough," said Luke. He felt a whole mess of negative emotions coming off of Phasma. They were so tangled that he couldn't identify what they were, but he got the impression that just sharing that little bit was more revealing than taking off her armor had been.

"Here, try this on," Luke changed the subject as he handed her her repaired helmet and neck piece. She fixed them together with a satisfying click. Then he moved on to the shoulder piece Ben damaged on his first strike.

"Thank you," Phasma said, when she finally wore her fully repaired armor again.

"You're welcome," said Luke with a smile. "Say, I'm hungry now. Would you mind joining me? I know where to get some good food that's not the cafeteria."

He could feel Phasma smile underneath her helmet. "Yes, that would be nice."

In the other realm, Anakin found the only quiet place where he could sulk. It seemed the rest of the Jedi all wanted to blame him again and again for his failures as a Jedi and a Father.

"What do you want me to do, ground him?" Anakin had tried to point out. He was unsuccessful, as they continued to grumble and complain.

So he was in the Auctor's workshop, hiding behind one of the bookcases in a little nook that he was starting to feel he knew by heart. He sat down on the floor and rocked his body, holding his hands over his head. He let out a quiet moan as he pictured his son's face with the glowing eyes of a sith, and the misery that goes with it covering all the light he once saw in the boy. "I've failed him. I'm so sorry. So sorry." Anakin cried again.

"As a parent, you are only responsible for preparing your child for the challenges he will face, not for what he does with those challenges. Luke knows well the risks of what he is considering. That he is willing to risk it for those he loves is a sign of strength, not weakness." The Auctor spoke softly.

"He shouldn't even be facing this. I was supposed to destroy the Sith. Balance the force. Some Chosen One, it was my one job, and I failed it," Anakin mumbled.

"Chosen one?" The Auctor laughed. "You mortals, always with your predictions." He sighed and shook his head. "Tell them nothing and they wander around like it's dark for a hundred years. Tell them exactly what's ahead and they'll sit waiting and never get to it." He finished his mutterings with a sound of disapproval, then walked away and continued his work in silence.

"Come on Anakin. Do you wanna watch what's happening in the world of the living? I think you'll really want to see it." After a while Obi-Wan tried calling out to him.

"No. I don't want to see any more of it." Anakin said and he sniffled.

"But Luke's got a date tonight," Obi-Wan teased. "Don't you want to make sure it goes well?"

"Ooh. You're making this up. That boy's exiled himself for years on Ahch-To, and didn't once show interest in any sort of companionship, and you're telling me he's suddenly found a girlfriend now," Anakin whined.

"You're gonna have to come see for yourself then." There was a long silence as Anakin considered. In the end Anakin put his head back under his arms, rocking to soothe himself.

"Perhaps now is not the best time." Anakin heard the Auctor defending him. "He needs time to mourn. He is the boy's father after all."

Anakin heard Obi-Wan sigh and shift around in resignation. "Mmm-hmm. I'll be just outside when he is ready to talk."

"That is good." Said the Auctor. And then there was silence again.

Hello, I know my interpretation of the Phasma character is not exactly Canon, but it is based on wookieepedia, honest. Her home planet was ravaged by a nuclear disaster, and while the farm thing was my idea, there were clan wars and such. Now according to what I've read, she has an interesting past, and I've taken some leave to be creative with it. I will write a bigger explanation once I get through with her story arc. I intend to be dealing with it in the next chapter but I won't know until I write it how long it will take.