Chapter 11
Rey stuck close to Ben as they navigated a crowded lower level marketplace within a poorer sector of the city planet. After asking around and greasing a few palms with credits, they had a lead on Beero, the Rodian that Maz had directed them towards.
Along with finding information, they had also been tasked by Poe to keep an eye out for the gangs that were now operating openly all over the planet, emboldened by being released from the First Order's iron fist.
As they walked, Rey noticed those beings that caused a wake in their path, people clearly withdrawing in fear from members of ruling gangs. She made a mental note to attempt a later investigation with Ben, and maybe Chewie, too, for a little added muscle.
Within a few minutes of leaving the marketplace, they made it to a bustling cantina. Even from outside, the music was loud, making conversation hard. The pair squeezed their way in, ignoring an older male Zabrak trying to sell them death sticks. In one corner, they noticed a pale Rodian playing sabacc with a few other unsavory types.
Ben took the lead, walking up and exuding the same intimidating power he had been known for as Kylo Ren. One look and a subtle show of the lightsaber hilt clipped to his belt, and the others scattered, leaving their target alone and annoyed at ending his winning hand. The old Rodian looked weathered, one of his antennae missing and several jagged scars marking the left side of his face.
"Are you Beero?" Ben asked, speaking loudly to be heard over the blaring music,
"And if I am?" the Rodian answered gruffly, his black, pupil-less eyes shining brightly, even in the dimness of the cantina.
"We have a few questions," Rey spoke up now, coming to stand next to Ben and trying a softer approach.
The Rodian squirmed uncomfortably, cornered in the booth by both of them. After a moment he sighed and nodded before pointing to a hallway leading away from the main room of the cantina.
Ben and Rey stepped back, allowing the humanoid to lead them to a back room, the music still audible but dulled. The room was clearly a storage area, with a few empty barrels and a few dusty chairs scattered about. The Rodian shuffled over to one of the chairs and sat down before crossing his arms and demanding, "Well then? What do you two want with me?"
"Maz -" Ben began.
"Kanata? Oi, I paid her back! With interest!" Beero said indignantly, throwing up his hands.
"Er, no. That's not why we're here," Ben scratched the back of his head awkwardly, the interruption causing him to momentarily lose his train of thought.
Rey stepped forward, lightly placing a hand on Ben's upper arm, the contact keeping her emotions grounded, "We were hoping you had some information… about cloning here on Coruscant… by the Emperor."
The Rhodian remained silent, seemingly stunned. He looked towards the door, but knew he was too slow to make an escape from two much younger lightsaber-wielding humans.
"How do you -?" Beero finally broke his silence.
"Maz," Ben interjected, shrugging.
"That woman knows everything," Beero mumbled.
"So? Do you?" Rey asked, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.
After another moment of silence, the Rhodian finally sighed before answering, "Back in the day, I used to trade tips on coaxium stashes to the Empire for credits here and there. They needed it for some top secret project for the Emperor."
Ben and Rey exchanged looks, hopeful.
"For years with the gig, I never asked any questions, just took my payment and went about my merry way," he continued, head down and absentmindedly picking at threads on his tattered pants, "But one time, when one of the troopers went to get a lieutenant, he just so happened to leave the door open. I still don't think I can fully describe what I saw. It was a small operation and I could tell it was somethin' secret."
Ben had an idea of what the old Rhodian had seen. His own memory of his first venture to Exegol came to mind. He cleared his throat, unsure of how to proceed with asking permission for something he had done dozens of times to prisoners - but that had been against their will and he had been a different person.
"Can I - would you let me see?" Ben raised his hand and gestured towards Beero's head.
The Rhodian considered him for a moment before nodding and closing his eyes.
It was so much easier to enter a willing mind. It was like walking through an open door rather than kicking down door after door to reveal an individual's hidden memories. He barely had to concentrate to see the memory Beero held from that day.
He was in a hallway with bright fluorescent lighting, and a black metal door had been left ajar slightly, letting an eerie glow peek through. Beero slowly pushed it open just enough to get a view of the rectangular room, either side lined with tall cylindrical tanks. Two tanks held what looked to be adult human males, while two others had much younger versions. Ghoulish beings much like Ben had witnessed on Exegol slowly shuffled around, injecting various substances into different tanks and making notes on data pads. Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside the room and Beero half stumbled to the place he had been left standing by the trooper. After that, Ben let go of the memory and exited peacefully, leaving no pain for either party.
Rey watched Ben's face carefully, watching for any hint of hope in what he had just gleaned from the memory. He gave her a nod with a small smile, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can you take us to this entrance?" Ben asked, redirecting his gaze to Beero.
The being in question grumbled under his breath and scratched at his one antenna before nodding with a sigh of resignation, "I'm guessing' you two wouldn't leave me alone 'til I did, would ya?"
In reply, Rey knelt before him, taking one of his green scaly hands and spoke softly, "Thank you."
It had been getting late in the day, and the three had agreed to reconvene again at this same cantina in the early afternoon the next day. From there, they would go down several levels into the city near the remains of the Imperial Palace made of the former Jedi Temple.
Back on the Falcon, Chewie wandered the cabin making adjustments while Ben and Rey were again meditating in the captain's quarters.
"Just one more time? Please?"
"Rey, I've already shown you three times. It's barely anything. We'll know for sure tomorrow!" Ben tried not to laugh, but his cheek dimpled with the smile he was holding in at her eagerness. He had gone over the memory from Beero with her the moment they got to the ship, and like a child who had just seen a holofilm for the first time, she wanted to watch it over and over again.
This was the first time Ben had ever seen Rey pout. He thought it was endearing and a true sign of how comfortable they had come to be with one another, able to freely share their vulnerabilities without fear.
In an instant, Ben called his mother's lightsaber to his hand, igniting it in a challenge with a brazen Solo smile. In turn, she did the same to Luke's saber and began to spar with Ben, backing him out of the room and into the main cabin.
The clashing and humming of the sabers caught Chewie's attention and he let out a frustrated groan when he found them, throwing his hands up.
They both stopped, laughing and breathing hard, extinguishing their sabers.
"Sorry, Chewie, we'll take it outside next time!" Rey laughed, red faced and brightly smiling at the wookie in apology.
Their antics had successfully dislodged Rey from her anxious fretting about what tomorrow would bring. When she looked at Ben again, he was smiling wide, his hair wild. She thought he had never looked more handsome. A calming feeling overcame her just then, and with that she knew something big was coming, and for once, it was good.
The next day…
In a single file line, three hooded figures and one wookie made their way through a maze of alleys and ramshackle houses to what looked like a dead end. Rey, Ben and Chewbacca watched as Beero knocked around a rusted metal plate until he found what he was looking for, and a door that had been covered by a tattered tarp was revealed. The metal groaned and grinded as it opened slowly, clearly having gone unused for many years.
The old Rhodian hobbled in, slowly leading them down a hallway that became dimly lit upon sensing their motion. The lights flickered above, creating an eerie scene. They came to a large door, similar to a blast door on a ship's hangar when Beero stopped, turning around to face the trio he was leading.
"Any bright ideas how we'll get through this?" He asked gruffly.
Ben shared a glance with Rey before unclipping his mother's saber from his belt and igniting it, sinking it to the hilt into the door, causing the metal to hiss and bubble as he slowly carved. It was slow going, so Rey, too, joined the effort with her own saber, until finally they had created a hole large enough for them all to squeeze through.
They found themselves in another hallway, but one with a much more manageable and open door to the next chamber. Rey and Ben both looked around, noting that it was the very same hallway from Beero's memory.
Right on cue, the Rhodian pointed to the single door in their path and spoke, "What I saw, it was in there."
Silently, as if afraid to disturb the quiet of the underground facility they found themselves in, Ben, Rey and Chewie walked into the next room.
The room itself was not overly large, but it was in complete disarray. It appeared that there had been a hasty evacuation, most likely abandoned after the fall of the Empire, and unbeknownst to the entire galaxy, moved to Exegol. Along the wall on either side was a row of three large tanks. All but one was cracked or shattered entirely. The one that was left intact still held a small amount of gelatinous goo at the bottom.
"It smells worse than the insides of a Tauntaun in here," Ben said to no one in particular, barely above a whisper.
Chewie grunted in agreement and Rey gave him a confused look, one eyebrow raised in question.
Ben just shrugged and gave a small chuckle, "Just something my Dad would say."
Assorted medical devices and other strange equipment lay strewn about. In the middle of the room, there was a circular desk, with several broken holo-schematic screens where the Sith Eternal scientists had recorded their progress on creating strand-casts as a new vessel for their Emperor's spirit. Ben picked up one of four scattered datapads and brushed the dust off the screen with the sleeve of his shirt. Amazingly, it flickered on, though it was clear that some of the data had been successfully erased or corrupted during the evacuation. Rey came to stand next to Ben, and a bluish glow cast upon their faces from the screen in the dim lighting of the chamber.
On the datapad, they found notes of various techniques and combinations of genetic engineering methods that had been utilized and what had resulted from them. The first clone, or strand-cast, was pictured with large red lettering at the bottom reading: TERMINATED. Ben continued scrolling until Rey stopped him at one image.
"Wait," she said loudly, her voice echoing within the chamber, "This one. He feels...familiar."
Rey proceeded to take the datapad from Ben's hands and stared into the image of the young man labeled experiment AD-6. Underneath his picture were the words: UNKNOWN LOCATION. Scrolling further down, she found a small blurb of notes that read:
Alteration of DNA sequence in chromosome 13, noted as experiment AD-6. Survived accelerated aging and basic memory graft. Powerless, exhibits no affinity for Force. Scheduled for termination by -
The notes ended there, corrupted. Rey touched the image, studying the details of the man's face. The memory flash came again, like it once had when pushed to remember by Ben, still Kylo Ren at the time.
"You'll be safe here. I promise." The man spoke with tears in his pale, blue eyes as her mother hugged her tightly for the last time.
"Rey?" Ben asked, worried at the glazed expression that had taken over her face.
"It's him. This is my father."
*Cue dramatic music here*
Here we go, folks! I could really use some feedback here since I'm about to go on a slightly complex adventure with these two! (Don't worry, more fluff will be coming, too.)
I would be so grateful if you could leave a review or even a PM. Thanks again for reading!