Last On: The Resistance Base was destroyed by Hux from orbit, leaving the Resistance to live on the Zealot's Vindication, a Star Dreadnought they stole from the First Order. Ben and Rey cross another bridge in their relationship, holding hands, and they finish off Holiday Week by attending a parade on Naboo.
Chapter 29
In a tight little corner of the relm where the Force Ghosts spend their time there was a bar, of sorts. And in a corner of said bar, a group were gathered.
"Progress, we're having so much progress, you two should be proud of yourselves," said Obi Wan.
"Yes, and did you see them holding hands during the parade!" Anakin smiled.
"They were holding hands, really?" Han Solo lifted a glass of whatever they drink in that relm, and clinked it against Anakin's glass.
"Now we need to figure out what our next step is going to be," said the still serious Luke.
"What do you mean? The next step is to get them kissing," Han said, and Anakin nodded in agreement.
"I mean, ladies, is what's next in the process of saving that boy?" Luke sounded agitated, as he tried to get the others to focus.
Yes, correct Luke is. Feel strange tides in the force surrounding their bond, I do. Like a tidal wave about to crash ashore, it feels," Yoda responded.
"He confided in his mom, and he even went on a mission with the Resistance, of sorts," said Anakin.
"But he still feels immense anger towards Hux, and he misses that life, especially now that he's on the ship he designed as his royal entourage. These feelings could be affecting their bond," surmised Luke.
"So that's our next step. Getting him to let go. Now how are we gonna do that?" Han asked, as the others took a sip of their drinks, and looked around deep in thought.
Back on the Zealot's Vindication, life seemed to be taking a predictable pattern again. Their supplies and evacuated equipment were picked up and unpacked. The Resistance members were picked up from their vacations. Sure, a lot of them were upset when they found out they'd have to be living on a First Order Star Dreadnought, but they eventually came around when Leia gave her impassioned speech on fighting fire with fire, and using the enemy's ways against him.
Ben was in a grumpy mood when his mom walked him to his newly assigned room. "But mom, I designed those quarters for myself. The Supreme Leader's quarters are mine!"
"No, it belongs to the resistance now, and it will be held aside and given to VIP guests, as needed. You will stay in these regular quarters, as anyone else. END of discussion!" Leia walked out, not giving him the chance to argue back.
Ben sunk onto the bed in the regular crew quarters he'd been given. For once he was glad he splurged on the mattresses for his crew. "At least they don't have me in a stormtrooper bunk." Ben growled. Fortunately for him, there were only so many Resistance members, that they didn't need any more than the regular crew quarters. The hundreds of stormtrooper bunks would go unused, for now. Although the others were already having discussions on renovating the space somehow, he'd heard.
"Or in the brig." Luke's ghost form hovered beside the bed.
"Ooh, you'd like that, wouldn't you." Ben scoffed.
"I'm just saying, they've offered you a home, a place to belong. You could at least try to enjoy it. To be a part of it." Luke glanced up at Ben with soft eyes.
"This isn't my home. I'm not a member of the Resistance. My home is two floors up, I designed it myself and had it built to suit me."
"We both know, you designed it to suit more than just yourself, kid." Luke paused with a playful smile on his lips, while Ben rolled his eyes. "And you would've been alone, in that life. Here you are making friends, including a pretty girlfriend." Ben turned to Luke and glared at him when he mentioned the girlfriend. "You wouldn't have had that in the First Order."
"I don't need friends, and I would have had Rey eventually. When she got tired of living life on one pitiable base after another. I'd of shown her the quality things the First Order has to offer. What I had to offer, and she would've taken it." Ben leaned back and reached up to fidget with his lightsaber as he spoke.
"You do know that girl was raised on Jakku, right. She recons she's been spoiled since coming to that pitiable base." Ben stopped fidgeting and turned his scowling face at Luke. "Ok, i'll play a romantic here. If your feelings for each other were strong enough to eventually bring you together despite the differing loyalties, you can't argue that this way, it has all happened faster." Luke held his hands out in a surrender posture.
Ben sighed a resigning sigh. "Yeah, I guess."
Luke looked around him for a second. "Good, now you're needed on the bridge, I hear." Ben got up looking concerned. "Go now." Luke motioned as if to push him from the room.
Ben got up to the bridge as quickly as he could. There was a tension there that you could cut with a knife. "What's going on?" he asked one person behind a desk, who jumped just hearing his voice.
"Oh, Ben, good, you're here." Leia came over and put her hands on Ben to lead him over to the Captain's chair. "We've been contacted by the planet you just recently visited to rescue Poe and Lt. Connix. Put this on." Leia handed him a black shirt and Ben pulled it over the light tan one he was wearing. "We're going to need you to answer the call. Remember, we're playing supreme leader. And we'll type what we want you to say on here, just try not to make it look too obvious that you're reading."
Ben sat down in the captain's chair and leaned his elbow on the armrest, casually. "Pull it up." He nodded to the one behind the communications panel. On a large screen on the bridge a reptilian face was projected. "Supreme Leader Kylo Ren." The face bowed his head and crossed an arm over his chest. "It is my pleasure to inform you that your takeover of the planet Falleen was a success. All remaining loyalists are under arrest, and the citizens are excited to be under your rule again."
Ben looked around him in shock. He remembered hearing that they were starting to take over the city when he left, but he imagined it wouldn't be long before their rebellion was defeated. Nothing came on his screen to say next. Leia and one of the other commanders were arguing, so Ben improvised. "Send me a full list of all prisoners. I will be sending you procedure changes and new laws very soon. No one is to be executed until I give the ruling. Oh, and welcome to the new empire."
The reptilian smiled at this, and bowed his head again. "Yes, sir. Your excellency I am sending the lists right now. We shall await your rulings." he bowed his head again and held it down. In a moment he slowly raised his head, then seeing the supreme leader still on his screen, bowed it again.
"Close it." Ben finally whispered to the guy at the comm panel. That's when he finally pushed the button and it disappeared.
"What. You make the call, you close the call, it's polite." The guy said to those around him, defending his inactivity.
"No one ends a comm on the Supreme Leader," Ben added behind the man, making him jump again.
"Meeting in the conference room in 20 minutes," Leia said before Ben could leave the Bridge.
When Ben arrived in the conference room he was glad to see Rey was asked to attend this meeting, and he sat next to her.
Leia began the meeting. "We have our first world under our control already. Now to decide what to do with it."
"We should have them set up a counsel to govern. It'll make the easiest transition to a republic when we've won the war." One of them suggested.
"No, we need them to think they're under the rule of Kylo Ren, that way any good tidings they tell other planets about are attributed to him, and thus to our rule," suggested another.
"And the First Order needs to think it's really him in charge," said a third.
"But then how are we any better than the First Order?" said the first man again.
Leia stood up, "We still need to gather information from them to rule. We'll set up a counsel, and have them suggest what laws their people need. We tell them to send their recommendations to the Supreme Leader and he will approve and disapprove laws as he sees fit." At this suggestion, everyone in the room was nodding in approval. "Now we need to solve another problem with our nav-computer. Rose will you please explain the problem.
"Yes, General." Rose stood up. "First order ships are designed to use the First Order Database for a number of it's systems. Including navigation. Now, we do have a few nav points in our computers so we can get around from system to system, but to properly navigate the galaxy we'll need more."
Leia then continued, "Word is, there is a junk dealer who's got an older nav computer that we can take and update, but we'll need to negotiate him into a deal. His name is Unkar Plutt, and he's from Jakku. Rey, I understand you are familiar with him." Rey silently nodded. "Would you be willing to travel to Jakku and negotiate on our behalf?"
Rey sat silent a minute, almost frozen, before she nodded. "Yes, I'll do it."
"I'll go with her," Ben said with conviction.
"No, we'll need you here to deal with the Falleen's," Leia said quickly. Ben looked cross, but he did not argue.
"I'd volunteer, if I weren't grounded." Poe put in, and Leia silenced him with a very pointed look.
"Not back to Jakku. Anywhere but Jakku!" Finn said, when he felt others looking at him.
"I'll put together a team to go with you Rey," Leia said, ending the conversation.
"General, what about the prisoners taken by the Falleen, are there any of them that can help our navigation issues?" asked Lt. Connix.
"We have received and reviewed the list of captured prisoners. There are one hundred stormtroopers and twenty four lower ranking officers. No one who knows anything about navigation."
"There wouldn't be. Falleen is one of those places where officers consider it a punishment to be stationed."
"That's true, but I understand there are a few mines there. We can use them to refuel. Along with several factories, which we can have build us supplies." Poe was ever eager to point out the positive.
"But the people have been under a totalitarian rule for years. Their poor and uneducated masses work under pitiable conditions in said factories and mines." Lt. Connix pointed out.
Poe squinted and gave her a 'What are you doing,' look. Then he crossed his arms defiantly.
"I look to you two to strategize ways of improving conditions for the Falleen, while still getting the supplies we need," ruled Leia.
Later that day Ben walked with Rey to the falcon, which she'd be taking to Jakku. The trip would take her a number of hours just to get there, so she'd be gone a day or two depending on how stubborn the old junk dealer would be. She was quiet on the way there, but he mostly just attributed it to her being deep in thought.
"What are you thinking," Ben tried.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to plan what to say to him,"
"You can convince him of anything." Then before she walked up the boarding ramp, he leaned over and tentatively put his arms around her for a hug. Rey just stood still, neither pulling away nor reaching forward.
When Ben released her from the hug, he stepped back and looked at who was boarding with her. He didn't know any of them really well. One was a young fighter. Ben remembered that he still struggled with his blaster aim, and had limited skills with other weapons. Another one had a personality more like a politician, she had done very little training with fieldwork, though she had an ok aim with her blaster. The third he had only seen behind a computer or handheld tablet screen. Always crunching numbers. Ben was about to turn and find his mother again, when he saw Chewy boarding the Falcon too. 'He's likely just going as the pilot, but at least if things get desperate, he'll keep her safe,' Ben thought to himself.
The rest of that day Ben spent divided between training and research. He wanted to learn what he could about Falleen, so he could govern them appropriately. Even if he was just approving and vetoing suggestions by their council. That day Rey was due to arrive back within the hour before dinner time. The negotiations were successful, according to her comm. Ben was just about to go wait for her, when his mom cornered him in the training room.
"Come, I need you to sign a few things," Leia said.
Ben followed her down to an office and sat down, where she placed pads in front of him. "What am I signing." Ben tried to read but all he got out was a bunch of legalese.
"These are the newest laws you will be signing into effect for Falleen. This one establishes an elected council that will report to us. This one gives the people a day off, to celebrate your victory there. And this one sets a work limit to 40 hrs a week in the factories. It also sets a minimum wage."
"Aren't I the Supreme Leader? Shouldn't I be a part of making these laws?"
Leia looked Ben in the eye, "You didn't really think we'd let you make all these decisions for yourself, did you. I've established a council to make the legal decisions. When we are able to, we will invite an elected Falleen representative to be on this counsel… Before they know it, the galaxy will be under diplomatic rule again, we've planned it out extensively."
Ben huffed, then signed the documents obediently. "Anything else?"
"No, your excellency." Leia quipped.
On his way out Ben felt a rush of frustration.
"What's the matter," came a familiar voice. When Ben looked for its source he recognized the force ghost of Anakin Skywalker, his grandfather.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just being treated like a figurehead in my own empire," Ben answered.
"Is it your empire?" Ben turned around to glare at Anakin. "Hmm, is it?"
"No, but it should be. It would be if Hux hadn't..." Ben stopped short.
"Why do you think it should be? Do you think you have some governing skills all the others put together don't have?"
"I'm your grandson. Vader's grandson."
"A man who was not able to be his own Master till the day he died. Not much to go on there." Anakin sounded casual, like he was talking about someone else.
"A man feared throughout the galaxy! Respected by everyone!" Ben shouted at Anakin.
"A man feared by his own children!" Anakin shouted back. Then quietly, he continued, "Respected by no one."
This seemed to steal Ben's voice. He stuttered for a minute, but he could not think of a responding argument.
He didn't know what else to do so he rushed to the hanger to wait for Rey's arrival.
There he wasn't the only one waiting for Rey. Rose and Finn had taken off of whatever their tasks were, and were waiting for her too. Ben felt a touch of jealousy having them there. He wanted to have Rey all to himself that evening. Though he had to admit, at least it meant he didn't have to stand there on his own.
Ben walked up to Finn, who was carrying a basket with him. "Hi Ben," Finn greeted.
"Finn and I were planning on going and finding a quiet corner on this ship and having dinner there. We were wondering if you and Rey would like to join us?" invited Rose.
"Yeah, I've got a lot of food packed," Finn added.
Ben thought it sounded like a good idea. Rey had been in hyperspace for a while, and she might appreciate not having to go to a cafeteria full of people, and just being able to relax with those she was familiar with. "Yes, It sounds like a good idea." Rose smiled, and shared a look with Finn.
The Falcon arrived a few moments after that. When Rey stepped off of the shuttle, she tried to give everyone a smile, but they could tell she was tired, as it wasn't a genuine smile.
Finn explained to her their idea about a picnic, while Rose and Ben looked at her eagerly.
"Alright," Rey responded, placatingly.
The others chose a corner in the engine room, which was quiet only because the white noise from the ship's engine drowned out all other noise. But Ben didn't object, and he helped Finn spread a tablecloth on the floor, for them to eat off of.
"So, Rey. What was it like, going back after so long away?" asked Rose, part way through their meal.
"Oh, It was fine, I guess. I'd go into more detail, but I don't think Finn wants to hear any more about Jakku," teased Rey.
"No, please. No more Jakku. I crash landed there, and almost died of the heat, walking to town. I don't know how you lived there so long."
After their meal, as Rey said goodnight to everyone, Ben reached an arm around her waist to pull her in for a hug, but as soon as he touched her back, Rey flinched and pulled away. Ben simply dropped his arm. He knew he was crossing new grounds giving her a hug, but he thought after the day before, she'd be ok with it.
When Rey had gone, Rose turned to Ben and asked, "Is something wrong with Rey?"
"You've noticed it too?" Ben felt thankful to have Rose there. He took back all he had thought about not needing friend's because he was just relieved to have her confirm what he'd been suspecting all evening. Rey hadn't said much that evening, only really answering, or deflecting direct questions.
"Yes, maybe going back to Jakku caused her more stress than we realize," Rose theorized.
"I don't know. I mean, she was pretty set on going back there when we first left," Finn pointed out.
"No, that was because she was still waiting for her parents to return," said Ben.
"Since then she's accepted that they're not coming back for her, and that they probably wouldn't be people you'd want coming back for you anyway. She's come a long way. I'll try and see if she wants to talk about it tomorrow," offered Rose.
"Thank you Rose. You're a good friend, to us both," Ben said.
Back in the quiet corner of the other relm, Force ghost Luke ran in to join the others who were already gathered. "I've got good news. Our boy is ready to admit that having friends is a good thing."
"And I can't tell if he accepted my word about his rule, but he at least ran out of arguments for it. We're wearing him down." Anakin patted his son's shoulder.
"Not good enough, I fear. Still rising, the tidal wave is." Yoda put in.
"But we handled everything." Anakin was looking distressed.
"Not everything. Missed something important, we must have," said Yoda.
The others looked around with fear and shock in their eyes.
Hi everyone. I wrote this chapter intentionally with certain themes, and I think they got through, but I have a head cold now, so what do I know. The next chapter will have to do with Rey's backstory, and Child abuse will be referred to. Just a warning.
Anyways, Let me know what you think. If I made any blaring typos that need to be fixed.
Oh, and I originally wrote the species of reptilians to be just something from my own head, but then I did some reading, and they seemed consistent with the Falleen, so I decided to make them that. But I don't know a lot about them except what was in Wookieepedia, so if I missed anything obvious just let me know.
