Last On: Ben is in Rey's body, at the Resistance HQ. He took Anakin's broken lightsaber and the parts to fix it. Leia wants to see Rey privately in her office, but Ben will have to go instead.
Chapter 4:
Earlier that morning:
Leia was in her private office, her head slouched over the computer screen. She had been doing one of the more tedious tasks necessary for running a Resistance late last night, and had fallen asleep with her work, again. Perhaps it was because whenever she'd retire, all she had to fill her mind with was grief, but that's not what she told herself. She told herself that these tasks would not be done properly if not done by herself, and she was rather convincing too.
"Wakey-wakey" the voice came over her shoulder.
Leia startled. She looked around, but saw no one. "Who's there?"
Then a bluish figure of a man appeared sitting in a chair beside her. "Just me."
"Luke," said Leia with a smile.
"We have a plan to save Ben, but there is a slight problem. Ben and Rey have formed a very rare Force Bond. It is very strong, almost unheard of. And it has, this morning, switched their bodies."
"Are you serious?" asked Leia.
"We think it is just temporary, but right now Ben is waking up, here, in Rey's body. Rey is on the First Order Base. I've already spoken to her, she is safe, but we need to get them together to switch back."
"Ben is here!"
"His primary plan will likely be to get out of here, and back to the first order. And with what body he's in, that will be very dangerous. Also, if he finds out that you know, his plans are likely to change."
"So what do I do?"
"He plans to go straight to the first Order, give him a ship but program it to lock in Auto-Pilot as soon as it leaves here. Send him to Calabria instead," said Luke.
"And what about the rest of this plan. The save my son plan." Leia eyed him suspiciously.
Luke cracked a smile, and for a second he reminded her more of the boy who came to the Death Star to rescue a princess, than the old man who's soul was scarred by war. "We are planning a little mischief for those two. An odd sort of date night for sure."
"You plan to exploit the bond?"
"We plan to strengthen the bond."
"And Who is this we, you keep referring to?"
"Well, our father, he actually half, unintentionally created the bond. Then there's Obi Wan Kenobi, a few other former Jedi. Even Yoda agrees with the plan."
"So a bunch of celibate old Jedi are going to play matchmaker."
"I know plenty about impressing a woman. I even impressed you once."
Leia just shook her head, and the force ghost of Luke disappeared from the room.
Some time later Leia walked out of her office. Connix and Poe were obviously and unintentionally flirting behind one of the desks, and everyone else was trying very hard to avoid them as they went about their work.
"Poe, Connix" Leia interrupted them. "We will be holding a meeting this morning. Send messages to these people that they are to attend." She handed a list to Connix. Then she turned to Poe. "Have a shuttle prepared for a mission after the meeting today."
"A mission?" Poe asked, dumbfounded.
"All Classified. Give this message to Rose, she'll know what to do. And have these items placed in the ship's hold." Leia passed him two tablets. "Oh," she walked back into her office, and emerged carrying a bottle of wine. Place this in the ship's hold too, but hide it behind everything else."
"OK." Poe looked confused but took the bottle. Then he glanced at the list and his eyes grew wide. "Just what kind of mission is this?"
"I said, It's classified. Speak of this to no one."
'Just in case the old Jedi doesn't know as much as he thinks he knows about women.' Leia thought to herself as Poe walked away. 'Gee, I made Poe Dameron's eyes grow wide, I hope I didn't go too far.
Present:
Ben followed Leia into an office. Leia took a seat and motioned for him to sit too. "Rey, I want to talk to you today before you leave for your mission."
"Mission," Ben said with a tiny bit of surprise leaking through.
"Yes, the ship should be ready to take you to Calabria soon. I assume you're prepared." She motioned to the bag Ben carried. "I'll walk you to the hanger myself, when we're done here."
Ben nodded along. Having a guide to show him to the hanger, not to mention having a ship waiting for him. 'Getting out of here is going to be easier than I thought.'
"The girl you are going to see, I want you to take care of her. B- She hasn't had an easy life. When I first met her she was just skin and bones. And she's jumpy too. I don't know exactly what she's been through, but she treats any situation like she may need to defend herself. Her trust is hard to win over."
"I'll protect her m-my general. She will be treated well." Ben tried to calm his mother. He still felt her anxiety was strong.
"I also wanted to bring up that conversation we had. About your connection to Ben," said Leia.
Ben leaned forward, very interested in what she said next. "Yes."
"I hope that you don't hold my opinions against me. I don't have anything against you, but I don't think there is any good that can come from exploring this bond. You may have some chemistry, but I know my son, and long term it just won't work out. Even if you weren't on opposite sides."
Ben had to tamp down feelings of anger. His mind quickly sought out memories of Rey to counter what his mother said. Though he knew his best response would not be to argue, so he responded, "Yeah, I'm just a scavenger."
"Now, this has nothing to do with class. I just know how Solo men are. How they think," Leia responded.
"You know that I already turned him down. He begged me, pleaded with me to be with him, but I left him with his dead master. You don't have anything to worry about," Ben said through gritted teeth.
"Come now, lets get you to your vessel." Leia got up and held out a hand to Ben. He felt nervous, but decided to take her hand to avoid suspicion.
'Solo men can never resist the old reverse psychology trick,' Leia thought to herself as she was leaving.
She led him down a few hallways, and up a stairs. When they opened the large double door to the hanger, the room was crowded. She led him to a shuttle where Poe and Rose stood outside. They seemed to be having a business conversation, but they both became quiet as soon as Leia approached.
"General, the ship is stocked and prepared as you asked," said Poe.
"Good, Rose, were you able to make the modifications I asked for?" asked Leia.
"Yes, Ma'am. Her tank is full and she's ready to fly," confirmed Rose.
"Well, It sounds like she's ready for you," Leia said to Ben.
"Rey. The ship is for Rey," said a very wide eyed Poe.
"Yes, may I remind you the mission is classified," said Leia. As she said this Ben had been climbing up into the craft. It had two seats, and a small hold, which was closed, and Ben didn't want to waste any time to search it. Ben sat in the pilot's chair, and began to turn on the engine. Before he realized it Leia had climbed in the shuttle. She reached around Ben to give him a hug and whispered in his ear so low he wasn't completely sure he heard it, "I love you, Ben."
Before Ben could react she stepped back and the door to the shuttle closed behind her. Ben tried to reopen the door, but it wouldn't open. The ship seemed to continue it's pre-flight procedure, even though no one was at the controls. He got back to the pilot seat and tried to shut them down, but they didn't respond either. A second later the view screen in front of the pilot seat went black. He could feel the ship take off, as he gave up messing with controls.
Thanks to everyone leaving reviews. I love reading them. The planet Calabria is not one that comes from the Star Wars Universe, but one that came from my own imagination. I tried to look up a planet from the many Star Wars Wikis, but I was quickly swamped with possibilities. Plus I don't know enough to determine what state each world would be in for the sequel trilogy. It's a universe full of planets, I figured it would be easier to add one.
