Kira dashed through the high-arching opening to the cavern past the smoldering remains of a skiff and the littered bodies of the Hutt security forces. As she rushed into the open, a dozen Resistance soldiers trained their weapons on her. She skidded to a halt with her hands up, and a voice across the cavern called out, "Stand down!"
The soldiers lowered their weapons and as they recognized Kira, and they resumed their tasks of prepping the ships for take-off. Kira walked forward the assembled ships and crew as Kit Antilles stepped down from the boarding ramp of the Aldera, followed by Zhey'la and Captain Rogers. Kira closed the distance across the cavern at a jog, reaching the trio.
"Where's Leia?" Kit asked, confused and concerned.
Kira took a deep breath, steadying herself for the deluge of objections and questions, to which she had no reasonable counter or answers. She said, "Ben Solo showed up, and Leia told me to go on."
"What?!" Kit asked, caught somewhere between shock and outrage.
"She told us to get out of here immediately before more Hutt forces show up," Kira explained.
"I told you we should have gone," Kit said, turning to Captain Rogers.
"You would have been caught flat-footed out there," Kira said.
"This is an order from Organa?" asked Rogers in her gravelly baritone.
"Yes, she ordered us to depart immediately," Kira responded.
"And how exactly does she plan to get off Nal Hutta with the entire planet looking for her and her son looking to arrest her?" Kit asked with outrage beginning to outweigh her shock.
"I think it's insane, and I told her so," Kira responded, then with another steadying breath, she added, "She said the Force was telling her that she needed to stay."
"Oh great, another crazy Jedi thing," Kit spat, her frustration evident.
"That's not how it works," Zhey'la admonished, but Kit rolled her eyes and stalked off in frustration.
Rogers watched Kit go, then turned back to Kira. She asked, "Let me get this straight. She wants us to take off now and leave her behind."
"Yes," Kira affirmed.
"And how is she leaving?" Zhey'la asked.
"She said she's leaving with Ben," Kira responded.
Zhey'la frowned, and Rogers whistled. Rogers looked conflicted, but she knew well enough to follow orders when relayed by Kira, having done so dozens of times already since the beginning of their resistance against the Republic. Rogers turned and began barking orders to her soldiers, who scrambled like a swarm of bees whose hive had just been hit with a stick. As Rogers faded away, Kira turned to Zhey'la, and Zhey'la asked, "A premonition?"
"She sensed that Ben was conflicted. She felt he was ready to listen," Kira explained.
Zhey'la pondered this for a moment, putting together pieces from her memory to try to fit this sudden turn into something cohesive and sensible. She nodded her head slowly, then said, "Yes, I last saw him at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I'd never seen him so lost." She paused, then added, "The Jedi. . . they've been using him."
Kira nodded. It was not hard to understand Ben's situation and the emotional state it was producing. However, she had been on the receiving end of a year's worth of Ben's attempts to invade her mind, and her empathy had its limits. She felt his ambition, his frustration, and eventually his desperation, and with Zhey'la's interpretation of Ben's emotional state, she felt that made him less predictable. She had watched Leia play hunches like this before with spectacular results, and even Kira had become more open and accepting to the idea that the Force had its own intentions and wishes. Her faith had grown significantly, but this. . . this was beyond her limits of faith.
"Incoming!" shouted a male voice from behind them.
Instinctively, both Kira and Zhey'la turned toward the opening of their cavern, igniting their lightsabers in unison. A trio of skiffs glided into the opening of the cave, and a motley assortment of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and security forces fired on their positions. Kira and Zhey'la deflected the blasts, and Kit called out that it was time to go. Zhey'la turned to Kira and handed her a remote detonator. "Blow the cavern when you're ready," and then, smiling, she said, "See you on Cophrigin," as she dashed toward the Phoenix, which Rogers had boarded with Krax and the Resistance soldiers. Kira pocketed the remote, then turned her attention back to the Hutt security forces.
Kira remained in place, and sinking deep into concentration, she let the Force flow through her, allowing it to guide her actions. With her eyes half closed, she could see clearly in her mind the blasts of energy soaring toward her, but with the Force's guidance and a deep, mysterious insight, she knew where they would go even before they left the blasters that fired them. Time slowed for her as the volleys of blaster fire moved toward her, and with the Force guiding her movements, she deftly maneuvered her lightsabers to block any bolts that came close enough to hit her.
As she sank into a quasi-trance, she also became aware of Ben and Leia in a distant, quiet corner of her mind. She knew that they had met, were perhaps even discussing matters of anger, betrayal, and forgiveness. She turned her focus away from their presence so as not to dilute her concentration in the here and now. A series of concussive blasts disrupted her concentration moments later, along with the concentration of everyone else in the cavern. She chanced a glance behind her and watched the dust and debris settling to the floor from a half-dozen blasts on the far wall of the cavern. The far wall began to collapse like wet sand, collecting in a pile of dusty rubble. The Aldera and the Phoenix both rose from the dust, laying down blaster fire from their rear cannons, taking out one of the skiffs. The Amaya also rose from the dust under the control of her droid, BD-5. The ship rotated its nose toward the newly created opening, and hovering twenty meters above the ground, it lowered its boarding ramp and settled directly above Kira. The ship's sole ventral cannon began to fire on the assembled Hutt security forces, who were now firing back with greater ferocity having recovered from the surprise of the unexpected explosions.
Kira directed her attention back toward the onslaught of blaster fire, using her lightsabers to deflect the incoming blasts. Counting silently in her mind, she waited until she reached fifty, then she deactivated one of her sabers and removed the remote detonator from her pocket. She pressed the red button at the top of the detonator with a decisive click. In the split second it took for the signal from the detonator to reach the explosives planted above the opening of the cave, she leapt up and backward into the air, coming to a soft landing on the boarding ramp. As she landed, the explosives erupted along the opening of the cavern, and thousands of tons of rock buried the Hutt security forces in a pile of smoking rubble.
Satisfied at the effectiveness of the explosives, Kira turned and walked up the ramp and into her ship. She settled herself in her captain's chair, then pushed the throttle forward. The Amaya shot out of the collapsing cavern and tore off after the Aldera and the Phoenix to clear the pursuing Hutt fighters off their backs.
***
Ben eased the power on the repulsorlits as the Falcon settled onto the soft, mossy ground at the edge of a large clearing. He looked through the cockpit and made out the solitary figure of a woman through thick mist. The glow of the city beyond cast her in silhouette, and the mist obscured any distinguishing features that would reveal her identity. However, he felt her presence through the Force as distinctly as if she were standing in front of him. Dread settled in his stomach as he watched her waiting patiently for him to approach.
"It that her?" spoke the gruff voice of Jedi Master Ferrer Melso. As Ben drifted reluctantly from his ruminations, he found that he had no words to spare for the Jedi Master as he struggled to suppress his dread of encountering his mother. Keeping his eyes fixed on his mother in the distance, he nodded mechanically.
Melso observed him, probing his emotions with the Force. Sensing his mentee's dread, Melso said, "Your feelings betray you, Ben Solo."
"I just need a moment," Ben said, his voice constricted.
"A moment that you've already had. We've spent the last year seeking your mother's arrest. Justice must be served, and if we linger any longer, she may escape." Melso reprimanded.
With an effort, Ben pulled himself out of the pilot's seat and turned his gaze from his mother's silhouette. He turned to the Jedi Master, who continued to appraise his mentee as if cataloging each of his faults and questioning his worthiness. Tension deepened between the two men as Ben's dread gave way to resentment and mistrust. Ben's misgivings grew as he recalled the numerous times in the past year where he had observed Master Melso's difficulty in mastering his conflicted emotions about Leia. Melso had been vocal about his suffering at the hands the Empire, especially where Darth Vader was concerned. After Melso lost his parents to Vader, he survived on his own as a child until Master Tano had found him on his home planet and brought him to the Jedi order. Melso had hardened toward Leia and Luke since the truth of their parentage was revealed, and he had spearheaded the decision to excommunicate Luke Skywalker along with hunting Leia. Leia had thwarted Melso's efforts to apprehend her repeatedly, which further entrenched the Jedi's resentments. Ben was just as uncertain about Melso's ability to remain objective where his mother was concerned as Melso was uncertain about Ben's resolve. Speaking from those concerns, Ben said, "I will go to her. You stay on the ship."
"Stay here?" Melso replied, a note of warning in his voice. "You're in no position to issue orders. If you are not able to do what must be done. . ." Melso left the sentence unfinished, allowing the implications to speak for themselves.
Ben registered the unspoken implication and stood to face Melso, replying with a hint of steel in his voice, "And what exactly must be done?"
Melso tensed with a glint in his eye as he replied simply, "Justice."
"I will go to her, but not with you," Ben said adamantly.
"Are you questioning my intentions?" Melso asked, his brow furrowing as his face darkened.
"I am certainly curious how you define justice," Ben admitted.
"Do not test me, Ben Solo," Melso responded through gritted teeth. "I've tried my best to train the sentiment and the attachment out of you, and you have repeatedly fallen short. Consider this the final test. If you can summon the will to do what's necessary, the Council will confer Mastery." Melso then added gravely as a warning, "Fail, and I will do what must be done."
Ben nodded curtly through a haze of resentment toward Melso and swept from the cockpit. He stalked through the galley where two Jedi, Lothar Mees and Ven Borvath, sat at the dejarik table, waiting for their orders. As Ben reached the boarding ramp, Lothor darkened with confusion as he asked, "Is Master Melso remaining on the ship?"
"Yes. Follow my lead. I will arrest Organa, and then we will set out to find Kira," Ben said, his voice filled with grim determination.
The two Jedi passed a curious, concerned look between each other as Ben stalked down the boarding ramp ahead of them. Looking back toward the ship's cockpit, they saw Melso standing at the entrance to the galley. Melso nodded gravely to the Jedi, and they nodded in return, but with some hesitation. Mees and Borvath turned to follow Ben, and they quickened their pace to catch up with him as he strode toward Leia's silhouette with a purposeful, determined gait.
Leia stood silent and still in the mist, waiting patiently for the three Jedi to cross the soft, mossy clearing. The rain had stopped, and a fetid mist had drifted into the clearing. Above Leia rose a cliff carved into the hill from an old strip-mining operation. The cliff was the culmination of a ramp-like ridge studded with stunted trees that rose from where the Milennium Falcon was now parked. Through the mist, Leia registered the muffled sounds of blaster fire and explosions coming from the mouth of the cavern a half-kilometer behind her where the Resistance had begun to fend off another attack from Hutt security forces.
Ben stopped ten meters in front of his mother, and the other two Jedi arrived moments later. They fanned out to Ben's left and right side, and for a moment, all three Jedi stood in silence, regarding the former Chancellor, Jedi Master, and hero of the Civil War-turned enemy of the state. Ben paused momentarily; his attention caught by the sounds of the firefight occurring beyond his mother. He turned his attention back to her and appraised her condition. She appeared supernaturally calm, with a slight smile stretched across her face and her hands crossed at her waist.
"Hello, Ben," she said softly.
"On the authority vested in me as a Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic, I am placing you under arrest," Ben said, his voice sounding rougher and more ragged in his ears than it usually did. He added, "Place your lightsaber on the ground, and do not attempt to resist."
"Very well," Leia said, still smiling slightly. Slowly and deliberately, she pulled her robe apart at her waist and removed her lightsaber from her belt. Cradling it in her hands, she knelt to the ground and laid the weapon gently on a tuft of moss. She pulled her hands away from the weapon, and with a sudden movement, she swept both hands to her sides as if throwing a set of curtains open.
Lothor Mees and Ven Borvath lifted off the ground and flew in opposite directions. Mees hit the wall of the cliff rising above them, and he slumped to the ground unconscious. Borvath hit the snag of a dead tree, and he also slumped to the ground in a heap, also unconscious. Ben reacted instantly, igniting his lightsaber and settling into a defensive posture. Leia rose to her feet and resumed her calm, patient posture with her hands folded before her.
"I thought it best that we talk alone," Leia said.
Ben remained tensed, poised to react to any sudden moves. Leia smiled, adding, "You're welcome to take my lightsaber. I won't resist."
Ben hesitated, watching her warily. With a slight, gentle laugh, she flicked her wrist, and her lightsaber rose from the tuft of moss and drifted lazily across the space between them, drifting casually toward Ben. Ben reached forward and took it, latching it onto his belt. Summoning his resolve after the sudden shock of her unexpected attack, he ordered, "Hands over your head."
Leia held her hands outward in a gesture of appeasement and said, "It's okay, Ben. I just want to talk. No tricks. No games."
Master Melso felt the sudden surge of Force energy and watched as the two Jedi accompanying Ben Solo flew to either side. Rising from his seat in the cockpit, he stalked through the Milennium Falcon and down the boarding ramp into the mist. Instead of striding across the clearing toward Ben Solo, he ascended the ramp-like ridge leading to the cliff above Leia and Ben. He watched the two speaking to each other as he climbed, and he worked to keep his emotions neutral and his progress silent to avoid alerting either to his presence. At last, he reached the lip of the cliff, and he looked down to see mother and son speaking, the son continuing to hold his lightsaber toward his mother. Fragments of their conversation drifted up to him, and he waited and watched to see whether Ben Solo would fail yet another test.