Calliope was afraid. For the first time in perhaps her young life actual raw fear. The dark side and Snoke paled in comparison to this. The contractions rippling through her body were worse than any pain she had sustained in training or any wound from battle. Each scream rocked the naboo's campsite.
"Just breathe," her mother's voice cooed. Calliope clutched her hand with a powerful grip, "You're doing so well Sunset."
Calliope cried; cried from the pain, cried for the fact she was reunited with her mother, cried for the fact her mother had been accepting of her and used the pet name she'd been called as child. It had been nineteen hours of this intensity tearing at her body. The medics were frantic urging her to push now, then breathe, then push. She grew intensely angry at all of the people who put her in this agony which meant she was angry ultimately at herself more than Ben Solo or Supreme Leader Snoke.
In the last hour one medic stepped forward suggesting they cut the child out. Sosha Soruna was mortified by this suggestion.
"Yes." Calliope's voice was weak and etched with pain, "Do it." She demanded gathering some form to her voice.
"We have nothing to numb it." The doctor admitted holding the knife in hand.
A tremor of pain made her yell, "DO IT!"
It was jarring how the ugliness of the open flesh was negated by the beautiful cry of a baby. He was pink and small with a full head of black locks. The babe cried as it was passed around in the doctor's arms; they cut the cord, cleaned him, and wrapped him while his mother was being sewed up. He cried until Calliope reached out of for him, and then there was a blissful silence. Sosha smiled combing back her daughter's sweaty bangs,
"What's his name?"
Calliope didn't look at her. She wasn't even looking at the child. The girl was looking off to the side as if someone else was with them.
"Anakin...his name is Anakin."
She entered the Millenium Falcon, ..alone. She primed all the necessary ignitions and strapped herself in. Everything was quiet even the hum of the ship was on a low register. She took a moment to clear her head. Was this really the plan? She'd been up for 48 hours straight fighting for this plan. The girl let her mind open, "Ben where are you?"
"You're oddly calm." his voice replied before his form appearing in the co-pilot's chair.
There was a deep breath,
"You told me to come and get my son, so I am."
"Our son!" He snapped.
She gripped a hand on the arm rest, and bottled down the response she wanted to say. Her anger would get her nowhere.
"Just tell me he's okay."
The man nodded before answering her very first questions, "You know where the base is." his voice and form trickled out.
"You tell him I'm on my way."
She gave a hard swallow before entering in coordinates into the hyper drive.
Something felt strange to Kylo Ren as he pulled away from Calliope's image. He disregarded it as the Delirium exited hyperspace and the planet Kerror came into view. Kerror, the most heavily guarded First Order planet. Also the most inhospitable; not that it mattered to the Order. Anakin was looking out the view port an intense curiosity in his eyes. It made Ren think…
"Anakin." The name felt strange in his mouth and the boy hesitantly turned hearing his father say his name, "Have you ever been… off planet before?"
The boy shook his head, "Never been on a spaceship before. Well…. big spaceship. Poe let me fly in his fighter, but we didn't tell mama. She doesn't want me to be a pilot."
He flinched at the familiar name jealousy swelling throughout him; someone else had been teaching his son how to pilot and worst of all it was that scum Poe Dameron.
"Would you like to learn how to fly a different kind of ship?" He felt an odd sense of connection that he could draw upon. Anakin shrugged his shoulders; the boy was truly unsure how to presently feel. They walked together through the destroyer to the hangar where a command vessel was waiting for them. Ares was waiting for them on board.
"How do you like having a mini you?" the knight asked with a grin. He was ignored.
Ren sat Anakin in the pilot seat despite the actual pilot's dismay and gave his son simple instructions on priming the ignition, initiating flight sequence, and take off from the hangar. The vessel's crew watched the seven year old boy do each step with a fluid ease; a natural. He could feel the boy's heart pulsate as the craft left the hangar. They were in space, nothing above them, nothing below them. No assurance of landing until they reached the atmosphere of Kerror. Ren put a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, and the pulse relaxed ever so slightly. The ship's pilot had to take over as they broke the planet's storm raged atmosphere. Harsh pellets of rain thrashed against the ship. Anakin was again looking out the view port, but there was nothing to see. Aside from the base the First Order had built there Kerroc was a wasteland. When they landed Kylo Ren felt a strange presence in the force turning his stomach over; something wasn't right.
"Commander Kit," Ren addressed the man in charge of the craft, "This is my son he and this unit will stay on this ship until I return."
"Understood sir." the man replied.
Ares raised an eyebrow,
"Well that's foreboding." The two men departed the ship greeted by nine battalions of Stormtroopers, and Kylo Ren's left hand gave an empty grab for his saber… it was back with her.
I put something hidden in plain sight in this chapter... muahahahahahahhahaha
love you all
