Nippet was the first to attack.

The Ewok Knight leap into the air with light saber raised over her head, intending to remove Ben Solo's own from his body.

Ben pointed his light saber at her and she froze in mid air. Then he pointed his lightning spitting hand at her light saber …

The kyber crystal within exploded, taking the saber itself- and Nippet's hands and head with it.

He let the remains drop to the floor.

"Royce!" Sheeva commanded as she sliced the floor. The other Knight nodded and buried his blade in the floor as well. "Minas! Polax! Delay him!"

The giant Knight moved forward, his staff spinning about. The metal of the staff was resistant to a light saber- one of the reasons that he used it- and was fully capable of parrying the brutal blows that Solo sent his way. Even in their youth, he had never been a match for Ben Solo, but he was capable of holding his own for a few minutes … long enough to give Sheeva and Royce time to work.

Meanwhile, the smallest of the Knights, hampered by his wound, tried to get past the dueling big men. If he could get behind Solo and find an opening, he could put an end to this fight before it had a chance to last much longer …

He made his way into the vault … and promptly fell twitching on his face, his body writhing in pain from the electric prod that had struck him in the back.

Rose Tico smiled grimly and handed the prod to Finn. "Keep it on him. I've got to finish rigging up the explosives. We may not be able to figure out what the Knights wanted here, but we can make sure that they don't get it!"

Chewbacca watched the fight, his hands on his bowcaster. Have to be careful. I might hit or distract Ben …

And in truth, it didn't look like the last scion of the Skywalker family needed much assistance.

And honestly, that worried Chewie.

He had helped raise Ben Solo, and he believed that he knew the boy better than anyone alive … perhaps even better than his parents had while they lived. This was not his Ben … Ben Solo could fight, and would fight to protect the innocent. He was brave and skilled, but he did not have the heart of a killer.

Ben Solo had just executed someone.

Chewie moaned sadly. He had known Nippet in her youth. In fact, he had been the one to send her to Luke Skywalker's Academy. He never would have guessed the brave young cub who had walked off the Falcon would one day slaughter children … or be so casually destroyed by Ben Solo.

Chewie took his eyes off the fight for a moment to look at the vault of the Jedi. The spacious treasure room was filled with relics of both the Jedi and Sith … thousands of holocons, scrolls, weapons and crystals … the history of the Force Users, both good and evil, was in this room.

And now to save the future, they would have to destroy the past.

Sometimes he regretted that Wookies lived so long.

Ben Solo grabbed Minas's staff … and lightning blasted through the metal, burning fiercely into the other big man.

Minas didn't even have the ability to scream.

Sheeva and Royce raised their hands, and the sections of the marble floor they had carved through wrenched free of the earth and went flying towards Ben Solo.

With light saber and lightning, he destroyed the debris before they reached him … but that gave the two Knights the opening they had been seeking.

Sheeva rushed him from the front … and Royce turned to attack him from the back. The Knight grinned as he prepared to strike … the grin remained on his face even as an unbelievably powerful Wookie arm ripped his head from his body.

Sheeva's pale face became even paler.

Without even reacting to Royce's death, Ben Solo advanced on the last standing Knight of Ren. His blade scored the floor as he walked towards her … and now … and now …

Both his eyes were golden.

"I surrender!" Sheeva cried, deactivating her light saber. "I surrender! Mercy!"

"Mercy?" Ben Solo's voice was soft, deceptively calm. "The same mercy you showed the younglings? The same mercy that you showed Morganna and Tika and all the people that you've murdered in the years since you became Sheeva Ren?"

"Luke Skywalker betrayed us! We had no choice! The New Republic would have killed us all! We trusted Skywalker, and he sent us to our death!"

"You had a choice! You could have run! You didn't have to go to Snoke. You didn't have to become a monster! You had a choice … Sheeva. And like all choices, there are consequences." Ben Solo's golden eyes blazed even brighter.

Sheeva screamed and brought her light saber up in one last desperate effort to save her life ….

And he sheared her hands off at the wrist.

She whimpered and fell to her knees.

She looked up at him, and there were tears in her eyes.

Ben Solo raised his light saber …

And time stopped.

"Your grandfather was a sweet child."

Ben Solo froze. He looked over and saw a woman standing in front of him, shimmering in the Force. She was young, beautiful, and reminded him strongly of his mother.

"When I met him, he was just a child … a slave on Tatooine. As these things go, I suppose Wattoo was not the worst of masters. Anakin and his mother were fed. They had a roof over their head. He even gave Anakin the occasional afternoon off.

"But Anakin and his mother were still slaves, still property. And when the Jedi Qui-Gon Jin bargained with Wattoo for Anakin's freedom, he was unable to convince Wattoo to release his mother as well. Anakin did go to become the Jedi he had dreamed of being, but his mother remained behind on Tatooine as a slave … because she was Wattoo's property."

"Who are you?" Ben whispered, but the woman continued her story.

"When Anakin finally returned to Tatooine, he discovered that his mother had been sold to a moisture farmer who had freed and later married her. It should have been a happy time for him, but Shmi Skywalker had been kidnapped and tortured by the Sandpeople. Anakin rescued her … just time for her to die in his arms. He then killed every Tusken in the village- man, woman, and child."

"I know that story," Ben told her. "Who are you?"

"If Shmi had been allowed to come with Anakin, perhaps she never would have died and he never would have fallen. Anakin never would have shed innocent blood … and perhaps I would have been alive to be your grandmother." The woman smiled gently. "My name is Padme Naberrie Amidala. Anakin Skywalker was my husband, and our daughter Leia is your mother."

"How are you doing this?"

"Luke was right, Ben. The Force doesn't belong to the Jedi or the Sith. I am here because I want to prevent you from making Anakin's mistake."

Ben turned back to the frozen Sheeva. "She deserves to die for what she's done."

"Perhaps she does, but she's no threat to you now. She can't defend herself. This is no longer a duel, Ben. This would be an execution. Is that what you want? To be judge, jury and executioner? To decide who lives and who dies?"

Ben Solo said nothing for a moment. "I hate her. I hated them all. I thought I was free … that it was over when Luke helped me get rid of Snoke. Instead … instead the Academy still fell. I didn't fall, but it made no difference to the Galaxy."

"That's not true, Ben," Padme said gently. "The path you are on has given the Galaxy a chance to achieve Balance … for the endless war between Light and Dark to end once in for all. Only someone like you- only someone who stands so perfectly between them- can bring Balance to the Force."

Ben Solo laughed bitterly. "You're saying I'm some kind of Chosen One? I don't want that. I don't want any of this."

"No one does." Padme touched his face. "But this is the legacy of the Force … and only the Living can do what can be done. The choice is yours, Ben." She looked into the vault where Chewie, Finn, and Rose stood frozen in place. "The choice belongs to all of you."

Ben Solo nodded, and felt his eyes lose their golden glow. "Padme … Grandmother. Grandfather. Anakin. Is he … all right? I haven't seen him since Kyla and I were on the Supremacy."

"Your grandfather is always with you, Ben. As am I. No matter whether you ever see us or not, our love goes with you always ..."

Padme faded away and time resumed.

Ben stared into the still tear-stained eyes of Sheeva Ren. "Get up. You're coming with us. Rose, are the explosives ready?"

"Yes." Rose Tico looked at him. Finn and Chewbacca hauled the nearly unconscious Polax to his feet. "I've got a timer set. We'll have plenty of time to get away."

"You're going to destroy the Emperor's palace?" Sheeva whispered in shock. "But the holocrons! The history!"

"Would you prefer to remain with it?" Ben growled at her.

Sheeva closed her mouth.

"Ben, are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Finn asked him reluctantly. "These things have been around for thousands of years ..."

Ben sighed. "I know, but we can't take a chance on the First Order getting their hands on these items. I'm not happy about it either, Finn, but we can't take everything with us, and we can't let them have it. It's time to let old things die."

Chewbacca growled his assent. "The Jedi would not want their discoveries to be used to oppress people. We have no choice."

"All right," Rose nodded. She did something to a remote in her hands. "The Temple will go down, but there won't be any damage to nearby buildings. Once I set the timer, we'll have to get out of here quickly."

"Give it to me," Ben told her gently. "If anyone's going to be responsible for this, it's going to be me."

Rose handed it to him.

He pressed the button. "Let's go."

They saw the Temple explode as their ship left the atmosphere.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay, guys. Had a bout of writer's block regarding this story, and then TROS came out and left me with mixed feelings. 2020 has been a heck of a year which has included the loss of my father. I haven't abandoned the story, and I will finish it.