(Finn)
Leia steps out of the room a few moments later. She takes a look at me, then at Rey. I don't know exactly what she's trying to convey. But it seems somewhere between disappointment and amusement. She begins to step away from us, before turning on her heel to face us.
"I don't know what you two overheard, but if I hear either of you whisper a word of it to anyone you'll be spending the next week in a holding cell." She says "I don't want to be responsible for a panic."
"Understood, General." Rey and I say
The truth is, neither of us could hear much of the conversation. My first choice is to talk to Ben and find out what he knows. I turn and walk back towards the door to his room when I feel Rey's hand on my shoulder.
"Let him sleep." She says before leading me away "Come on, I'm starving"
Neither of us have had the chance to eat today, so we head to the mess hall in silence. It's slightly crowded now, but nothing compared to when the sun comes up. You could be waiting in line for close to an hour and by the time you're at the front, you're told that the stew is out and that you have to wait 15 minutes so the cooks can make more.
That's what our meals mostly consist of. It's usually some form of stew that's made from the plant life scattered throughout the planet due to animal life being practically non-existent here. It usually tastes terrible, but eventually you don't care.
We happen to see Poe sitting at a nearby table once we arrive. Rey immediately puts down her tray and runs over to give him a hug. We'd met shortly after Ben and I arrived on D'Quar. Once we left for Crait, he and his squad had to ship out to scout nearby systems for classified reasons.
From what I've gathered, he and Jacen were best friends growing up, practically inseparable. Since his mother and father died when he was a teenager, The Solos became his new family, albeit unofficially. From what Rey tells me, he took it pretty hard when Jacen left to train with Luke.
He barely said a word for several weeks and would make whatever excuse he could to be alone. From what Rey remembers, he would often go to the lake where he and Jacen would swim. At night, he'd stare up at the stars, hoping that wherever Jacen was, he could see the same thing.
The topic of Jacen still seems to be a sore subject for Poe as he seems distracted whenever he is mentioned. Poe will go from his usual talkative mood to incredibly distant. I asked Rey about this a few weeks ago, but she couldn't come up with an answer. "I have no idea." She said "I was only 5 when Jacen left so I don't remember much. I don't remember much about my brother t all if I'm being honest."
Rey and Poe talk to each other quietly. I briefly consider joining them, but my growling stomach propels me to get back in line. Once I head back to the tables with food for myself and Rey, I see that Poe is gone. I take my seat across from Rey, the smile she had when she saw Poe is gone, now I see only worry in her eyes.
"What is it?" I say, nudging her food bowl to her
She picks up a spoon and plunges it into her stew, but she stops before putting it in her mouth. She stares at the spoon full of food and then looks back at me.
"Poe had his team scouting the system." She says "They spotted a probe droid circling the planet."
This puts some lift in my eyes. The way the new probe droids work no longer involves having to actually enter a planet's atmosphere. It can scan an entire planet in just a matter of hours and it's too small to be picked up by radar. The only way to actually see it is in person while it's locking onto a target's exact location so it can be transmitted to any star destroyers in the area.
"If you had to guess…" I say "how long do you think we have before they show up?"
"Five, maybe six hours." She says
I try to remain neutral as I look around at the few people still in the area. They're not paying attention, but the last thing I want to do is get in trouble with the General.
I lean in "We need to get Ben off planet." I say "It has to be now, before the rest of the base evacuates."
Rey leans her head into her hand and sighs. "Dammit." she mutters
We both know it would be too dangerous to have him leave with the rest of the base. The First Order will target every ship that leaves the planet as it departs, so we need to leave before they arrive. A fleet can't hide, a single ship can.
"Get a ship ready, I'll get Ben" I say, keeping my voice low enough to where only she can hear me.
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" She says "It's not like transport ships are just available to everyone."
I pause for a moment. Without even thinking, I say "Would Poe be of any help?"
Rey shrugs "Are you kidding me?" She says "Poe is one step away from being promoted to Commander, he's not going to risk losing that by helping me."
"Then what do we do?" I say
"Just go get Ben. I'll figure something out." She replies
Without a second thought, we both leave the room in the pursuit of our objectives. I find myself running once I'm out of the mess hall, nobody says a word to me. I don't have a problem with this today. Every second counts and I can't be distracted.
Once I'm out of the mess hall, I slow down and catch my breath. A few people are looking at me as I head for the stairwell. I try my best to guard my expression as best I can to avoid any commotion. Maybe some people mutter to themselves or each other what's going on, but I'm still yet to be stopped.
I reach Ben's room minutes later. I open his door to find him asleep in his bed. Once I'm in, I seal the door behind me to prevent anyone from coming in.
It's only when I get close enough that I remember the tube sticking out of his leg as it visibly protrudes from underneath his blanket. And that's when I realize that getting him out of here undetected will be next to impossible. If I remove the tube now he'd be in agony so the only option would be to keep him sedated which would mean I'd have to carry him out of here. And that wouldn't be possible earlier due to how easily he'll be recognized.
I sit down on a nearby chair, weighing my options when the door opens. One of Leia's guards walks in, with his hand hovering over the gun holstered at his hip. "Soldier" he says firmly "the General has requested you accompany me."
"Why?" I say
"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information, sir." He says "I was just told to escort you or stun you if you refuse to comply."
I get up and follow him to what turns out to be Leia's office. When I get there, I see Leia at her desk, and Rey hanging her head across from her. Without missing a beat, Leia turns her attention from Rey to me. She stands up only to lean forward and place her hands on her desk, her face only inches away from mine.
"I always thought you stormtroopers were supposed to be smart, I guess I was wrong." She says
Admittedly, that hurts. I've spent the last year desperately trying to prove to everyone that I'm not one of them. But if I can't convince her, how am I supposed to convince the rest of the galaxy? I do my best to guard my expression, but I must not be doing a good job at it as she pulls back, her face softening considerably.
"So…" she says "You steal a ship and fly Ben away from here before the evacuation… and then what?"
Rey and I look at each other, both of us coming to the same realization. "I don't know" I say "I just know we need to get him out of here before the chaos starts."
"And if you're spotted by a First Order star destroyer, then what?" She says "No ship in the hangar bay has the capability to outrun or out gun a star destroyer, let alone an entire fleet. You go out there alone and you're dead before you have the chance to blink."
She looks at both of us, ensuring that she has both of our full attention. "And that's if you're lucky. If Snoke or his apprentice are on any of the ships in the fleet, they'll capture and torture all three of you until you're begging to die" she says "especially Ben"
"I don't understand." I say "What does the First Order want with Ben? If it's just because he's related to Luke Skywalker, then wouldn't Rey be just as big of a target?"
Leia slumps back into her chair, her hands clasped together. She looks at me and then turns to Rey. With a slow wave of her hand, Rey leans back her chair, her eyes closed.
"She'll be fine." Leia says before I have the chance to react "She's just unconscious but she'll be up in an hour or so with no memory of the last few minutes."
"Why did you do that?" I say
"Because what I'm about to tell you is something very few people know, and I don't want that list to include my daughter just yet."
This puts some lift in my eyes. Leia never publicly refers to Rey as her daughter and vice versa. Every time they address each other it's usually by rank like everyone else.
"What is it?" I say
"From what I know, Luke had been assembling recruits to rebuild the Jedi Order." She says "One day, he met a woman and they fell in love. Eventually they got married and some years later she became pregnant."
She stands back up, folds her hands behind her back, and faces a wall. "One of Luke's students, one of his best I might add, grew angry and disillusioned with the Jedi. Calling them a pack of self-righteous hypocrites and that Luke was just dooming the order to the same fate it had when fell the last time."
She looks back at me and I think I notice a single tear glide down her cheek. She continues "The student told Luke that the only way to stop this was to do so before it starts. He told Luke that for the order to survive, the child had to die before it was born. When Luke refused, the student gathered six others to aid him. They were ordered to gather as many followers and kill whoever resisted."
"Kylo Ren and his knights." I say
"Yes" she replies "but before that night he was known by another name: Jacen Solo."
What comes out of my mouth next is obvious, but I can't stop myself from saying it.
"Kylo Ren is your son." I say
She inhales deeply before speaking. I would venture to guess this isn't a subject she brings up often. She looks at me tentatively and finally, she says:
"Yes, he's my son."
Just then, sirens consume all other sounds on the base. Leia and I exchange a look at each other. We both know what this means: they're here.
A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long, I've been in the middle of moving across the country and I've been really busy with school. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to finish. May the force be with you all.
