—Chapter 14: Recruitment—
The Finalizer dropped out of hyperspace near Lothal, a remote farming and mining planet, home to hundreds of small communities of mainly humanoid settlers. General Hux looked out the Star Destroyer's bridge windows at the Adragna, one of the stormtrooper recruitment vessels that he had recently recommissioned.
In total, the First Order had five recruitment vessels, all of which had been retired under the so-called leadership of Kylo Ren. The largest stormtrooper training facility had been on Starkiller Base. To Kylo Ren, its destruction presaged the end of the recruitment and conditioning program entirely. He had overseen the rebuilding of the cloning facility on Kamino, in favor of the old Imperial system of cloning and accelerated aging. In Kylo Ren's First Order, cloning would be the preferred way.
But this wasn't Kylo Ren's First Order anymore. Hux had invested a lot of energy into perfecting the conditioning program, and he had felt personally embittered when Ren had ended it. The renewal of these methods meant a great deal to him. Cloning was the old way, it was obsolete, and Hux intended to see that it stayed that way. However, since Kylo Ren had done the legwork to reestablish those old ways, for now Hux would take full advantage of both programs.
Hux ordered Lieutenant Durvas to open a channel to Faris Ren. "Supreme Leader, we have just dropped out of hyperspace now. Establishing orbit around Lothal."
Faris Ren appeared via holocam on the bridge. "Excellent, General. How long before landing?"
"There is little reason to wait, my lord," replied Hux. The stormtrooper transports were fully fueled and ready to deploy, and the Adragna's facilities were up and running, prepared to receive recruits. "We await only your approval to commence." Hux was pleased with himself.
"You don't want to savor the moment, General? Very well. My approval is granted," replied Faris. "You may commence at your leisure."
"Thank you, Supreme Leader." Hux bowed low before Faris's holographic image, obsequious as ever. Turning to his lieutenant, he commanded, "Deploy the shuttles and transports. Target the larger settlements along the equatorial regions first."
"Yes, General," replied Lieutenant Durvas. Assault Landers loaded with battalions of stormtroopers were deployed, coming into view through the bridge windows. Light Cruisers, which would carry the children from the surface directly to the Adragna, followed closely behind, pairing off with the Assault Landers. The ships then disembarked in different directions as they entered the atmosphere, heading toward the various settlements, per Hux's orders.
Hux monitored the action on the surface from the remote safety of the Star Destroyer, arms crossed confidently behind his back and head held high. His goal was to round up as many children as they could find. They would ensure that any adult survivors were dedicated in one way or another to the good of the Order—reassignment or death. The children would eventually be taken to Kamino for stormtrooper conditioning and training. Naturally, he anticipated resistance from the planet's inhabitants, which is where the stormtrooper battalions would come in.
After about fifteen minutes, the first progress reports began to filter up from the surface: casualty rates and acquisition numbers. The figures were encouraging, but Hux wanted more.
"Make sure each squad understands they are not to return before their transports are full. If they exhaust the resources in one area they should scout for another," explained Hux.
"I'll make sure they understand that, sir."
"Very good."
About an hour into the campaign, the troops had amassed hundreds of children and volunteers to work the planet's mines and other natural resources, and dozens of voluntary adult conscripts. Many more than that were dead. Hux anticipated several more hours of resource collection and reallocation before they were finished here.
Hux had been observing the events for the past hour with a firm, gratified smile on his face. He had intentionally left Lothal's communications open, allowing distress signals to be sent—he wanted the knowledge that the First Order was reinvigorating its recruitment efforts to spread. The options were to either get in line or die. He anticipated higher rates of voluntary enlistment at his next target, once the Lothal campaign concluded successfully.
"I will report to the Supreme Leader from my quarters," said Hux. "Have my lunch brought down."
Lieutenant Durvas wasn't in charge of his lunch, so she wasn't sure to whom he'd been speaking. She looked around, sighing, and assumed that if he went hungry, it would be her problem. She made sure to alert the appropriate departments.
—
StratComm's telecommunications officer, Sadije Gelnik had been receiving a lot of noise through the network that morning, but in the last hour a disturbing trend had taken shape. Sadije had been with the Resistance for about eight months, and was used to receiving communiqués complaining of First Order interference in sovereign planets' business, but this was getting out of hand. Without looking up from his instruments, he relayed to his superior, "Lieutenant Connix, several reports are coming in of a First Order attack on the Outer Rim mining planet of Lothal. This appears to be different than their usual brand of interference, ma'am." Lieutenant Connix wasn't that much older than Sadije, but his youth and relative inexperience made him predisposed to formality when dealing with others.
Concerned, Lieutenant Connix stepped over to the junior officer's station. "Different how?" she asked.
"More severe, ma'am," said Sadije. Typically, complaints included groups of First Order scouts brutalizing community leaders who don't fall in line, or trying to squeeze money or resources out of already impoverished planets. This was much more savage. "Reports seem to indicate a planet-wide campaign to collect children and murder civilians."
"Collect children?" exclaimed Connix, aghast. "They haven't done that in at least a couple of years! It looked like they had gotten away from that… Are you sure?"
"That's what the reports indicate, ma'am." Sadije had joined the Resistance after a Spice cartel on his home world of Mon Gazza, propped up by the First Order, had killed his family for failing to pay protection fees. His knowledge of First Order political history didn't run deep, but his commitment was strong. "The information is still preliminary, but the casualty reports sound a lot higher than what I remember. Whole villages seem to have been stripped bare."
"They used to take kids as spoils of war… you're saying this is more organized? You're making it sound like the whole purpose was to collect children—like they went in there specifically to do that," reasoned Connix.
Sadije shrugged dismally. "Frankly, ma'am, I see little other reason to bother with someplace like Lothal…"
Connix turned and hurriedly collected her holopad, breaking out in a sweat. "I need to assemble the council. Continue monitoring the situation."
"Yes, ma'am."
—
Their physical training had evolved into a psychically choreographed dance, of sorts. It had started with Ben performing a given movement and Rey mirroring his actions in real time—if she could see his intentions clearly and quickly enough, she could do exactly as he did. They were testing the theory that if they could keep their minds linked well enough, that they could synchronize their actions and fight as a single unit, supporting one another with their combined efforts. If successful, it stood to tremendously increase their potency in battle.
They had moved past mirroring one another and were on to Force-lifting one another into strategic locations—this required not just the ability to clearly communicate one's actions to the other so that they could be mimicked, but to project simultaneously what your own actions will be and how you intend for the other's actions to complement them.
There had been a handful of accidents. Once, Ben had lifted Rey too enthusiastically and she had completely overshot the target where he was aiming to put her. Thankfully, she landed in the lake, and the only thing injured was her pride. On another occasion, Rey was attempting to move too many things at once and accidentally struck Ben with his training saber in an attempt to fling it to him.
All in all, however, their coordination had improved quite a lot.
"That's enough, let's rest for a bit," said Ben, as he lowered Rey gently to the ground after successfully completing an aerial maneuver.
"Don't tell me you're getting tired," teased Rey.
"I just want to end on a high note—we've been screwing that up so many times, and we finally got it right. Let's take a moment to absorb what success feels like," he said, smiling at her. He sat himself down on a large rock jutting out of the cliff face.
She took a seat next to him on the dusty boulder, leaning in close. He snaked his arm around her waist and looked down at her, making eye contact. Her free arm settled up against his chest, gradually reaching for his chin to pull him into a kiss when her communicator sounded.
"I hate that thing," said Ben flatly.
"They really do call way too often," she remarked. "I'll try to get them to lay off, but I still better take this."
"Mmm," he replied.
"It's Rose," said Rey, tapping the button to accept the call. "Hi Rose, what's going on? You haven't called me before."
Rose was frantic. "Rey, it's the First Order! They're attacking civilians and stealing children in huge numbers. You've got to get back to base! We're meeting about it right now and you should be here!"
"Stealing children?" She looked at Ben, who returned her stare with a shrug. "Okay, we'll get there as fast as we can. We still have the speeder we brought back after the other night, so it won't be long."
"Okay, please hurry," said Rose, disconnecting.
Rey studied Ben, who anticipated her question. "I did say it was likely they'd restart that whole mess. Hux does love his children…"
She just creased her lips and rose from the boulder to leave. Ben followed her, and together, they ran back to her cottage where the speeder was parked.
—
Back at StratComm, things were a bit of a circus. The Resistance still had not fully filled their leadership vacuum in the wake of Leia's death, and without one clear voice to lead the discussion, people were talking over one another. When Ben and Rey first stepped through the doors, people didn't immediately take notice of them. They slipped into a couple of empty seats by the door and listened.
"They raided the entire planet in a matter of hours! We can't possibly hope to repel an effort of that magnitude!" shouted one individual.
"Well, we need to think of something! Countless children just lost their families—Lothal is basically just a huge slave labor camp now!" yelled another.
"Okay, everybody calm down!" shouted Poe, calling for order. His hands were raised, waiting for things to quiet down a bit before proceeding. "Now, reports do suggest that this was a much more deliberate, concentrated effort to steal kids than what they've done in the past, but that doesn't mean we're helpless to stop it." Though still overly worked up, the room was beginning to settle down under Poe's commanding tone. "What we need is to know where they're taking those kids, and where they plan to hit next, assuming this isn't a one-time thing."
"It's highly unlikely that this will be the only such event," added Lieutenant Connix. "It was too determined and too successful to just end there—the next attempt will probably be worse." The murmurings of discontent in the room grew to a rumble at this observation.
"The next stop for that ship would be the stormtrooper training facility, where they raise the kids and begin their programming," interjected Finn, rising from his seat.
Tears threatened Rey's eyes as she listened to her friend speak about something she knew he understood all too well.
Finn continued, "The largest such facility was back on Starkiller Base, but that's gone now. I don't know of any other facilities that could take as many kids as they just collected."
"Maybe it's time we asked the Supreme Leader what they're planning to do," proposed Snap Wexley, accusatorily. All eyes in the room turned to where Snap was looking. There was a silent moment of calm as everyone took in the sight of them. Rey looked just as she always did to them, dressed in her familiar tunic, arm wraps and cropped pants. Ben was an odd juxtaposition between what they'd envisioned and what Rey's influence had wrought. Ben stood up tall from his seat, wearing the light canvas pants and shirt Rey had made him, but over the top he donned his First Order hooded cloak and black gloves. Calmly, he rose and addressed the assembled rabble.
"Before my ousting, I had dismantled the old methods of capture and conditioning of children into stormtroopers," he and Finn exchanged glances, and Ben continued speaking, "so if they've taken children, there's only one facility I know of that would be equipped to handle such a large number of children at once, and that's on Kamino."
"Kamino?" Poe asked. "That's that old ruined cloning facility the Empire used to use, isn't it?"
"It was in ruins," explained Ben simply. "When I left, it was all but up and running again."
"So the new Supreme Leader wants to use that facility to raise up the new generation of stormtroopers? And who is running the First Order now that you're not? I mean, you're not, right?" asked Snap.
"The new Supreme Leader is a Dark Enforcer, one of the Knights of Ren, whom I commanded back when I still called myself Kylo Ren," he answered.
Rey stood up, cutting in with authority. "He is no longer Kylo Ren. This is Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and General Leia Organa." She took a breath, meeting Poe's eyes before continuing, more softly, "He's not on the dark side anymore."
No longer strictly on the dark side, he corrected her. They exchanged glances. Poe looked staid.
"My lead general and the new Supreme Leader, Faris Ren, initiated a coup against me, orchestrating my mother's death in an effort to distract me long enough to overtake me." Ben paused, then continued dismally, "She was murdered in order to get to me." Rey could feel the shame and regret coming off of him in waves. She leaned in a little closer to him.
"So if they kicked you out, do you even know what's going on?" asked Poe, uncertain that he could trust the information coming from the man in front of him, even if it was being given with sincerity.
"There were certainly some plans made in secret, without my awareness, but anything I actively sought out information on, I know is reliable. I can tell when someone is lying or holding back from me. Hux, my general, was careful never to appear deceptive to me, but if I didn't ask about something, there was nothing for him to have been deceptive about."
"So what can you tell us?" asked Finn, stepping forward.
Ben sighed. "I can tell you that the First Order stormtrooper recruitment vessels were decommissioned, but by now Hux has almost certainly had them refitted. Each vessel can carry well over a thousand children, and is hyperdrive equipped." Murmurs filled the room. Ben continued, "I know there were no other facilities being actively developed besides those on Kamino—all capital projects were under my direct oversight, so while other locations may be in mind for future use, for now, Kamino is the most likely location for the children to have been taken. It would be illogical for Hux or Faris Ren to have abandoned the infrastructure I put in place for cloning and growth enhancement, so in all likelihood their plan is to employ both strategies for growing their army."
"They'll swarm the galaxy at that rate!" shouted someone in the crowd, and immediately there was disarray.
Rey took a step away from Ben and held up her hands toward the crowd, quelling some of the bickering that had erupted. Her authority permeated the room, and they directed their eyes to her, waiting at attention for her to speak.
"So now that we think we understand what they're doing, what we need is a plan to stop it," she said. "What do you suggest?" She turned to Ben, who met her eyes before returning them to the assembled crowd. The audience shifted their attention from Rey to Ben.
"I recommend we employ a strike team to intercept them at Kamino. There, we can liberate the ship holding the children and get information about where the other ships could be going; maybe stop them before they get there. The Resistance has enough forces that we could also return to Lothal and free the slaves in the mines, returning the children to their families—"
"—But what if their families are dead?! They killed thousands who resisted!" interjected one listener.
Ben paused. "Then I suggest you raise them yourselves."
Poe took it upon himself to give some orders. "Jess, Winn, you two draw up plans for what to do with any kids we free that we can't take home, and organize a team to head to the mines on Lothal." Jess and Winn nodded and left the room, and Poe turned back to Ben. "Tell us more about how we intercept the ship."
Ben looked evenly at Poe, and continued to develop his plan. "A battalion of X-wings would be sufficient if we can intercept the recruitment ship before it docks at Kamino, but we won't know until we get there if they've landed or not. The best course of action is to assume they will have started unloading the children already, so we need to be ready for a ground assault and recovery. We will probably need to steal the recruitment ship in order to get the children off Kamino. Once the children are secure, Rey and I could easily infiltrate their information systems to find out where the other ships are heading."
Poe nodded. "How do you plan to get the information about the other ships? It's safe to assume they will have invalidated your access codes…"
Ben leveled his gaze on Poe, choosing his words carefully. "Rey or I could easily coerce the information from any First Order officer we find."
Rey closed her eyes, and Poe stiffened. Commander D'Acy, who had been observing relatively quietly from the sidelines, spoke up, "This all sounds reasonable to me. Let's not waste any more time here, we need to organize our assault strategy—Snap, get a team ready." Snap nodded and headed out of the room. Returning her attention to Ben, D'Acy asked, "Do you have blueprints or anything that would help us better understand the physical layout of the facilities on Kamino so we're not running around blindly looking for the kids?"
Ben shook his head. "No, I don't, but I—I've seen the facility. I'm very familiar with its layout. I could just show you…"
"How?" D'Acy asked, puzzled.
Ben took a breath, knowing full well that what he was about to suggest was not going to go over well. "I could project the images directly into your mind…"
As predicted. A stony silence followed during which most of the Resistance fighters stared at him with worried or suspicious expressions. A handful could be heard scoffing audibly. He knew what he was asking. He knew what people expected. Surely, there had been rumors, stories, yarns spun—some based in truth, others exaggerated—about what Sith Lords could do to one's mind. Ben had never been a Sith Lord, but that detail would do nothing to assuage their misgivings. After all, he could still do what they feared, and here he was, asking them to invite him into their minds.
But before anyone could have a chance to protest, Rey spoke up. "Show me." She looked at him proudly, with trust and conviction. She was determined to help them see.
Ben felt lighter. They shared a look, conveying all the gratitude, trust, love, honor, and devotion that a simple glance could ever express. No observer would be able to detect what transpired between them in that instant, and Ben surprised himself by feeling pity—pity that they would never know a connection like the one he and Rey shared.
Rey took a step closer. "Show me," she repeated.
Gratefully, Ben turned to her and pulled off one of his gloves, tucking it into the waist of his pants. Relaxing into his hand as it touched her forehead, she closed her eyes and took in the mental images he was projecting to her. She could see it all with the same clarity that he had in his own memory—he had seen blueprints, he had walked its grounds, he knew which security doors required access codes, and he knew the locations of critical offices and control panels that could be accessed to disable the facility. He had even projected images of the recruitment vessels, inside and out, so they could be recognized and piloted with ease. And now she had that same knowledge.
Ben released her from his touch, and she reopened her eyes, looking straight at him. She could feel everyone's eyes on her like she was about to burst into flames. Turning, she addressed them pointedly, "You're all going to want to see this."
Finn was the first to step up to her. In turn, she placed her hand on his forehead and after a few seconds, he too had acquired all the same knowledge and understanding that Rey had. He couldn't pass it on to anyone else, but he stepped aside and indicated to the person next to him that he should let Rey touch him. He complied, and Rey was again spreading Ben's memories to those in attendance.
People were queuing up in front of Rey, and Ben watched silently as she disseminated his knowledge. After another couple people had been touched by Rey, a young man approached Ben, a pilot. Steadfastly, but with a nervousness he couldn't conceal, he asked Ben to show him what he could. Ben obliged, and after a few seconds, the man backed away somewhat deliriously. The man inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, regaining his composure. With a nod of thanks, he stepped away. Nervously, a couple other pilots who had been observing the exchange edged tentatively closer. Ben subtly, carefully invited them forward, and soon, they followed suit.
Poe waited at the front of the room, watching as Rey and Ben went from one person to another, touching them and inserting Ben's memories into their minds. After the last person had seen the images, Ben and Rey turned to Poe.
Rey knew that this was progress, but now wasn't the time to force a reconciliation between the two stubborn men in her midst. She couldn't ask either of them to extend the olive branch just yet—she would need to mediate. "May I?" she said to Poe, holding up her hand towards his face.
Poe nodded, and she touched him gently on the forehead, inserting Ben's memories into his brain. When it was over, Poe looked between the two of them. "This will make this whole thing a lot easier," he said, by way of thanks. Ben nodded his agreement.
A truce, of sorts.
—
The Resistance base bustled as officers and fighters hurriedly prepared for their mission. Rose had decided she was best suited to assist with the reunification efforts between the children and their families, so she was with Jess Testor discussing how they would know which children had homes to go back to, how they would get them there, and what to do with the children who would need sheltering. Winn was working out how to deal with the stormtroopers on Lothal when they returned with the kids.
Finn had wanted to be a part of the raiding party on Kamino, so he attached himself to Rey, figuring that she and Ben would be leading the charge once Snap had the team assembled. "I can't wait to bust into that place," he told her, brimming with fierce anticipation.
"Let's go find Snap and see what he's putting together. Come on, Rey," said Poe.
Ben took her by the wrist, stopping her from following Poe. "Wait, we can't yet."
"What?" said Poe, annoyed. "You two have an integral role in this, what do you mean, 'not yet'? We need to get moving, now," he said, waving his hands impatiently.
Rey looked expectantly at Ben. "Why are we waiting?" she asked.
"If we're going to go storming into a First Order facility, don't you think it would help if you had a lightsaber?"
Rey's eyes popped open, lighting up her face. "You can help me fix it?"
"Grab a power generator and a diatium converter kit, plus the tools to work with them. Your mechanic friend can pull that together for you, I'm sure. I assume the remains of the saber are back at your cottage?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Good, then let's move. We'll be back as soon as we've taken care of that, but it could be all night before we're done," said Ben. Poe looked ready to protest, but said nothing. "Make sure the fighters are rested and ready to fly in the morning. We'll hit Kamino after they've unloaded the children, but honestly, it's probably safer for them that way anyway."
Reluctantly, and with resigned frustration, Poe relented, and Rey and Ben headed off to their speeder to get to work on Rey's lightsaber. By the time they got back, Resistance ships would be ready and waiting.
