Ben woke up one day with a feeling. It wasn't a nice feeling for sure. He felt as though something bad was going to happen. He tried ignoring it, going about his daily routine, but it just got worse.
Then he heard a voice, Luke's voice.
Trust in the Force, Ben.
Ben was caught by surprise. Why did Luke say that?
Ben stopped dead for a moment, unmoving. There was a feeling, it washed over him like a wave. It took his breath away. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. It felt like an ice cold wave had just come out of nowhere.
"What the fu..." Ben stuttered, gripping onto the table near his window for support.
Was that...a shift in the Force...?
Ben stumbles again, the affect of the Force shift took the energy out of him. He wasn't sure why. Ben stumbles out of his quarters and goes off to find Finn.
Ben finds Finn with Poe. Poe is teaching Finn more about ships. Finn and Poe turn to see Ben approaching, looking exhausted.
"Hey buddy!" Poe perks up "you okay? You don't look so good"
"Something happened." Ben pants "the Force, it's shifted."
"Shifted?" Finn asks
"Someone powerful has joined the Dark Side." Ben sighs "I felt the balance of the Force shift to the Dark Side's favour."
"Do you think it's-?" Finn trails off
"I don't know." Ben slumps his shoulders "I really hope not. But I'm not sure at the moment."
"This whole things a mess." Poe sighs
"I've had a bad feeling all day..." Ben says "I thought the shift was the bad thing, but I still feel it. Something else is going on, and I have no idea what. That doesn't matter, as I'm going to find out!"
Ben leaves moments later and finds somewhere to sit on his own, undisturbed. He closes his eyes, clears his mind and reaches out to the Force. He focuses on this feeling he's been having, trying to find something.
Show me.. Ben reaches further into the Force. Something else seems to be there but he can't reach it.
Show me... Ben pushes further into the Force, mustering up more strength.
Still not enough.
Ben stops for a moment, takes a deep breath and calls upon the Force to allow him to push that much further.
Please...show me... Ben pushes further than he had before. Mustering up strength he never though he had.
Then it hit him, a flash. He saw Sith Troopers, countless amounts. He saw someone leading them. Dressed all in black. Their atmosphere was cold, merciless, angry, hateful. Their face was concealed, refusing to identify this leader. He saw another flash, he saw rebels dying, he saw himself, a red lightsaber pointed toward his throat. He was unarmed. The visions broke and Ben came to, gasping for air. He was terrified. What he saw, he didn't know what to do, what to say. Ben was completely speechless. He sat there a moment, staring off into the distance in shock. inside he was panicking, his brain was running at light speed and he couldn't comprehend what he saw.
Who led that army? What is he going to face? Is his death finally coming? So many questions and no answers to fill them. After a few moments Ben got up and walked back to the hangar bay.
"Hey buddy, everything alright?" Poe asks "you just jetted off."
"Get everyone prepared for battle. I know ones coming." Ben says firmly "I've seen things, and I'm not saying anything about what I saw for your safety, but what I can tell you Is a battle is coming. I don't know where it'll happen, I don't know when, all I know is it's happening."
"Shit." Finn sighs
"Also, someone leads them." Ben says "I didn't see who, but I saw someone dressed in black. They have a lightsaber.."
"This is worse than we thought." Poe sighs
"Everyone best get their asses ready." Ben says "this isn't going to be an easy fight. We have to protect the resistance, no matter who's under the cloak, agreed?"
With a little reluctance, Poe and Finn agree. Ben looks at them with a little sympathy.
"I know it'll be hard, but we have to." Ben says "we have to think about what we've built here."
I know.." Poe sighs "just a shitty situation."
Ben lays a warm, supportive hand on Poe's shoulder.
Ben leaves to train. He goes out into an open area, it's shaded by trees, but perfect for training without being too far from the base. Ben takes his lightsaber from his belt and looks at it for a moment. He was rather proud of it. His first properly built lightsaber. His cross guard was poorly built, he knew that, it had more potential. But his dual-wield saber was a work of art. He admired it for a moment, watching the sun bounce off the shiny silver that made up the hilt.
After a moment, he ignited the lightsaber, watching the blades emerge from either end of the lightsaber. He started by having the lightsaber beside him. With no one to spar with, he decided to use an advanced training droid that he put together himself. He deployed the droid and brought his lightsaber to a defencive stance.
Ben took a deep breath, reaching for the Force, accepting its power, letting it flow through his veins. He felt as though the lightsaber was simply an extension of himself. The Force fuelled him, heightened his senses further. His eyes darting around, keeping track of the droid, it's humming drumming into Ben's ears. He exhaled, and stood ready.
The droid buzzed around him, trying to catch him off-guard. The droid fires it's first shot, and Ben quickly deflects. Another 2 shots fired, Ben manages to dodge one and deflect the other.
Damn this droid is good.
The droid zooms out of view, Ben looks around and doesn't see it. Ben takes a deep breath and reaches for the Force. Just enough to hear it.
There. Ben told himself
Ben hears the buzzing of the training droid and turns to face it. 2 shots fired toward him, be blocked one, but missed the other and it hit him in the shoulder. Ben staggered back.
Shit. Ben thought
It didn't cause injury, but stung like hell! Ben grunted a little and shook it off. Ben reaches for the Force once more, acquiring strength. All he needed was to find the right moment. Ben swing his lightsaber at the droid and it dodged it. Ben managed to block another few shots from the droid. Ben flings his lightsaber toward the droid. It slices the droid neatly in half and returns to Ben's hand in a boomerang affect.
Ben wipes the sweat from his forehead and looks Over the field.
"What the hell is that?" Ben whispered to himself.
As he looked over the field he saw what looked to be a group of people moving. As the got closer, Ben realises who they were and turned white as a ghost. They were coming right for him. In panick, Ben ran inside the base.
"THEY'RE HERE!" Ben shouted "The Final Order has found us. I don't know how, but we need to ready up. NOW. They're coming through the fields!"
The rebels scampered off and many returned quickly with weapons. A message was sent out for any allies to come and join the fight. Luckily the Resistance has been able to restore communication with allies. Tie's were heard filling the air with screeching. Pilots jumped in their ships and ground attackers left the base.
This is it. Ben thought to himself. I find out who's under the cloak, and if this is my last day.
Ben breathes deeply. He gripped the lightsaber in his hands, he stepped out and stood at the top of the hill, with theResistance behind him, facing the Final Order. Ben walked forward a little, and the leader of the Final Order walked forward, the Sith Troopers didn't move. So the Resistance fighters didn't move either.
"Who are you?" Ben asks
"You really have to ask that?" A female voice emerges from under the hood.
"I have to see it to believe it." Ben replies. He didn't really want to see if it way Rey underneath, he hoped it wasn't. Anyone but Rey. Her heart was too good to fall to the Dark Side.
The woman reached for her hood and grabbed the sides of it. She hesitated a moment, as if wondering if she should take it off. With a quick whoosh, the hood fell to her shoulders, revealing her face.
Ben's heart broke in an instant. He couldn't believe what he saw. It was her, she tipped the balance. "Rey..."
"Don't lecture me on this Ben. This is my destiny." Rey says, her golden eyes glimmer with hatred.
"I don't believe it, I refuse to believe this is your life." Ben replies trying to keep hope
"You think I care about any of you any more?" Rey taunts "You think I will let you live? Jokes on you Ben."
Ben looked at the woman he once knew. She was so twisted by the Dark Side. She fully committed herself to it. Her golden eyes proof of it.
"Kill them." Rey's voice calls out, cold and hateful.
"Rey, please don't do this." Ben pleads
"Shut it." Rey snaps swinging her lightsaber at Ben. Ben was quick and blocked her attack, and pushed her back.
"Everyone acts like they know me. Like they know my life better than me." Rey snaps "no one knows me. I'm sick of hearing the same shit."
"Rey, it doesn't have to be like this." Ben pleads
"Stop talking!" Rey shouts in rage
Rey uses the Force to push Ben's lightsaber out of his hand, Rey stormed toward him, she swung her lightsaber at him, he barely dodged, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. Rey points her lightsaber at him.
This is it. My vision Ben's mind is racing. His heart is in his throat and he's terrified.
"You...you of all people should understand why I turned." Rey snapped "I thought you'd stand by me."
"I will never go back to the Dark Side Rey." Ben stays positive
"Then you'll die, like the rest of them." Rey snaps, not noticing her fleet of Sith Troopers were being badly beaten
Rey moves the lightsaber, so it was inches from Ben's chest. One small thrust, and Ben knew he was dead.
This is it, I'm going to die! he secretly panicked
That's when he heard a blaster, and a thump. Ben opened his eyes and sat up. Rey was on the floor, unconscious. Finn helped Ben to his feet.
"You okay?" Finn asks
"Yeah, thanks to you." Ben says praising Finn
The remaining of the Sith Troopers picked up their unconscious leader and quickly left for their ship.
"Shit." Finn says "they know where we are,"
"But no one followed us back, how did they find out!?" Ben asked panicking a little.
"It was Rey." Finn says "the only reason I could think of is because Rey told the Final Order where we are."
"Ugh..." Ben becomes obviously frustrated "why would she do this to us?"
"I don't know, but I hate it." Poe pipes up
"After everything she saw me go through..." Ben sighs "I don't get why she would go to the Dark Side after seeing what it caused me to do."
"Is it possible for this to be her destiny?" Poe asks "she is a Palpatine after all."
"I don't want to believe that." Ben sighs
"You are where you are because of your Skywalker blood." Poe says "maybe she's where she is because of her own blood."
Ben stays silent. He doesn't want to believe this is Rey's destiny. It can't be. She never gave up on him, so he won't do the same. Rey has a good heart, under all the pain and anger, she's good. Ben didn't just believe it, he saw it. She saved him, she didn't have to, but she did. He didn't believe she really wanted to kill him back there. She could have done it in seconds, yet she hesitated.
Ben slumped at the table where they make plans, places his arms crossed on the table, head on arms and looking at the lightsaber he placed in front of him. Ben sighs deeply.
Ben thinks of the woman he once knew, Rey. Pained by her turn. She didn't just turn, she pledged fully to the Dark Side. She killed the light within her. She was instead left with raw emotion. Hatred, anger, any negative emotion Ben could think of, Rey felt it. It broke him. It's like, since losing Leia, Rey lost her way. She locked herself away. Ben wondered if Rey ever heard Leia through the Force like he hears Luke. He wonders if Leia begged and pleaded for her to stay. If Leia couldn't convince her not to give in to the Dark Side, could anyone? Ben sighs again, raising an arm and resting his head on the palm of his hand. The other hand, fiddling with his lightsaber, spinning it on the table.
Ben looks at the time and realises it's late. He picks up his lightsaber and walks to his quarters. He enter his room, and puts his lightsaber on the nightstand next to his bed and climbs into the shower. He cleans himself up, dries his hair and climbs into bed. He turns the light off and closes his eyes, hoping to momentarily forget about the days events. Exhausted by the day, Ben quickly falls into a deep, peaceful sleep.
