Sparks
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Chapter Nine-A Name
The tension was rampant at the masquerade ball after Rey finally managed to get word to Finn and Poe about the trap Max Sonata and his associates had laid for them. Both men were equally as shocked as each other that they had been so easily fooled by Max's friendly overtures, and also as equally unnerved that Ben had so easily managed to escape the base with only Lando's help.
They all stood together in a shadowy corner of the great hall, as far away from Max Sonata's suspicious gaze as they could possibly get. "How did you even manage to sneak past the guards to get in here?" Poe whispered harshly. "This ball was invitation only."
Ben quirked his lips in a half smile. "An old Jedi mind trick." He said, glancing to the side at Rey. She smiled back at him in understanding.
Poe's mouth snapped shut as he remembered Rey using the same trick on some First Order troopers once, when they'd sneaked onto the First Order ship to rescue Chewie. He remembered the way the troopers faces had gone blank as they parroted Rey's words back to her, before stepping aside and letting them carry on with their mission. He'd wondered briefly then if she had ever pulled that trick on him or Finn before. It made him uncomfortable that she would be capable of such manipulation, but it was outright disturbing that Solo could do the same. Why hadn't he thought of that before? All the things he'd secretly put in place to make sure the man was watched over while he was away were pointless, when Solo could simply trick his way off the base whenever he wanted.
"You shouldn't even be here!" Poe hissed. "I only agreed to let you wander the base freely on the one proviso that you stayed put. And that included you being banned from carrying any type of weapon." He continued in a low voice as he caught a glimpse of the lightsaber concealed in Ben's waistcoat.
"That's what you're choosing to focus on?" Rey responded defensively before Ben had a chance to. "We're fortunate he came here in time to warn us that we're walking into a trap."
"We only have his word for that." Poe retorted; his eyes narrowed in mistrust. He had never fully bought into Kylo Ren's sudden redemption. He had let himself be talked around by Rey and Finn, and now he was sorely regretting it. "Maybe you set the trap."
Ben put his hand on Rey's arm to quieten her when she opened her mouth to defend him again. "I don't blame you for not trusting me. But to let that blind you to what's really going on here just makes you a fool. And we don't have the time for me to convince you otherwise."
"Poe." Finn intervened quickly. Ever the peacemaker he tried to talk his more hot-headed friend down. "I believe he's telling the truth. And I think, deep down, so do you."
Poe glared at Finn for a long moment, before huffing out an irritated sigh. "Fine." He muttered. "So, he's telling the truth for once? How are we supposed to get out of here? We're surrounded on all sides. I hope you bought back up." He scowled up at Ben, irritated that he had to crane his neck to do so. Why did the guy have to be so darn tall?
"Lando and I couldn't exactly do that without arousing suspicion." Ben said testily. "The only way out of here is to fight our way out."
"We have no weapons." Poe reminded Ben pointedly. "Finn and I had to leave out blasters at the entrance."
"Well luckily for you, Rey and I had the foresight to conceal ours." Ben couldn't help the smug smile crossing his face as Poe glowered back at him. "You and Finn make a run for it; Rey and I will have your back."
"Just the two of you?" Poe scoffed.
"We're a formidable team." Ben made eye-contact with Rey, his softening as he searched for the connection, needing to feel that sense of oneness, just as she did. If it were any other man, Rey would have dropped her gaze by now, but with him she was drawn in closer, wanting more. Then he said the words she needed to hear. "We're ok, you and me. We've got this."
Rey just nodded, taking in every moment for her memory, knowing it was the medication she needed to survive the next few minutes. "We've got this." She echoed him.
Rey grabbed Leia's lightsaber from where she had it hooked on the leather thong circling her upper thigh. Igniting it, the first thing she did was cut off the confining skirts of her ridiculous dress so she had more freedom of movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ben's appreciative gaze sweep over her shapely legs as they were revealed.
"Concentrate!" Rey warned him through the bond as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by black-clothed guards. The foremost one raised his blaster and fired. She deflected it easily with her hand, sending it careering it right back into the same guard's abdomen.
"Nicely done." Ben praised her as he engaged two guards at once, using his greater strength to push them backwards. He twirled the Skywalker saber in his hand and blocked a blaster bolt heading his way from the encroaching guard sneaking up behind him.
United, Rey drew on Ben's strength, and he drew on hers, and just like before-in Snoke's throne room and on Exegol-they were separate but also together, their movements like a co-ordinated dance as they battled the seemingly never-ending stream of Max Sonata's masked minions.
While the two of them fought, Poe and Finn had used the opportunity to sneak out. They quickly disarmed the guards at the door and stole their weapons and soon the sound of blaster fire echoed in the outer hallway.
Rey used the Force to collapse a guard under his own weight, while Ben threw his assailant back into another group of men, knocking them all to the ground like skittles. It was quite comical seeing them fight each other as they tried to regain their footing. In the background they saw Max Sonata's face, he had removed his mask and was silently raging as his comrades deserted him. He was left alone with only a few members of the JInata Security as protection. His daughter stood sobbing beside him, her long hair failing out of its elaborate coils.
"Daddy, what's happening?" Merla cried.
"Be quiet!" Max snapped in irritation. He glared in Ben and Rey's direction, shaking his pudgy fist. "Others will hear of this unprovoked attack. I have recorded everything…. even now the footage its on its way to every news outlet in the galaxy. It will be broadcast everywhere, and everyone will know that the Resistance are no better than the First Order by using violence and intimidation to get their own way, and that the last jedi is nothing but a fraud."
Ben disarmed the last of the guards, using the Force to sweep another out of his way as he strode purposefully in Max Sonata's direction.
Rey hurriedly dispatched her opponent and quickly followed him. "Ben, what are you doing?" She asked him anxiously through their bond. "The plan was just to get out of here."
"Just trust me, sweetheart." Ben replied calmly as he stopped in front of Max Sonata and pointed his saber directly over his heart. The Jinata Security hovered nearby, waiting agitatedly for their leader's next orders to fight or retreat. "You are a traitor, Maximus Sonata." He said aloud. "And soon the whole galaxy will know that you have been secretly plotting with the lingering factions of the First Order, old diehards who are trying to undermine the peace mission."
"So, what if I am?" Max's nostrils flared indignantly as he licked his fleshy lips with his tongue to moisten them. "You have no proof of your claims."
"I have every proof. You were not the only one recording everything." Ben revealed as he pulled off the small spy camera attached to the belt around his waist.
Rey gasped in surprise, her mouth dropping open.
Max's fleshy lips slapped together as he glanced nervously in the direction of the Jinata Security. Only a select few knew of his association with the former enemy, the others had truly believed they had all been gathered here to pay court to the former rebels. He watched as some of the genuine members drew their blasters. "Are you really going to believe this scoundrel's words over mine?" He implored.
The sound of the safety catches being pulled back from the few blasters aimed in his direction was his only answer to that question.
Max drew his petrified daughter behind him. "Who are you?" He demanded of Ben. His eyes flicked to Rey, his forehead twisting into an obstinate frown. "You accuse me of wickedness, but you are the ones who lied. We were told that she was the last jedi. Yet, here you are, as adept with the jedi's weapon as she is."
Suspicious murmurings came from the group of individuals who made up the Jinata Security. Some of them had already lowered their blasters.
"You have a very unique fighting style, scoundrel. A style I have only ever seen in one other…. Kylo Ren himself." Max declared, relaxing now that he had his audience back on side. "He always wore a mask and never revealed his true features. I insist that you take off yours. Or are you too scared to reveal your true face?"
"Ben?" Rey cried in alarm through their bond. "We should go."
"I've got this, Rey." Ben answered calmly. "Its going to be okay."
The air was so brittle it could snap, Rey took a deep breath to fortify her nerves and stepped closer to Ben, mentally preparing to back him up should things go any further south.
Drawing on Rey's unequivocal support and faith in him, Ben slowly pulled off the silk mask covering his face. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. All eyes were focused on his handsome face, his dark brown eyes determined, his expression confident and assured. "Kylo Ren is dead." He said steadily, his eyes still trained on Max.
"And you are taking credit for his death, I suppose?" Max replied mockingly. "You expect us to believe that, scoundrel? Who are you? Tell us your name."
A quiet exhalation left Ben's parted lips, almost like a resigned sigh of acceptance. "My mother was General Leia Organa Solo and my father was Han Solo….and I…I am Ben." He said, finally publicly accepting ownership of the name that he had once tried to erase from his life.
A/N-thanks for reading!