Inside the Supremacy
General Hux had been informed about Ren and his prisoner going to see Snoke and that fighting sounds were heard coming from the throne room, also that Snoke's personal space craft had left the hangar bay about fifteen minutes ago, but he had been too busy planning the attack on Crait – where they'd discovered the Resistance had looked for refuge inside an old Rebel-base – to go take a look immediately. So, once every part of the attack had been planned, he went looking for Kylo Ren to demand some explanation from him. But he couldn't find the annoying man anywhere, and the Knights of Ren had no idea of their commander's whereabouts. So Hux mustered up some courage and stepped into the elevator that would take him to Snoke's red room.
Expecting to find an angry Snoke, a wounded Ren, and a dead woman in there, when the elevator doors opened the scene of destruction he found instead took him by surprise; the Praetorian Guards lay on the floor, some with missing limbs, and said limbs lay somewhere around the room; his eyes fell onto the throne, where the bottom half of Snoke's body lay, the upper half had fallen onto the floor, by his own feet, eyes still open.
Hux walked a few more steps inside and found Kylo Ren on the floor. A smile began to form on his face. Please be dead. He thought. Be dead and this will become the happiest day of my life. He walked closer and noticed the man was only fainted, he could see his chest moving as he breathed. Hux reached out for his blaster.
Ben sensed when Hux walked into the room and he felt the man's intention of killing him while he lay on the floor. So he staged a sudden awakening and stood up, looking confused.
"What happened here?" Hux asked, discreetly removing his hand from the blaster's hilt.
"The woman, my prisoner, she revealed her true self. She was a Gray Jedi. She killed Snoke and the guards and may have thought I was dead."
"She did all of this on her own?" Hux was not buying that.
"Yes. Haven't you ever heard of the Gray Jedi? They follow no rules!"
"Yes, but..."
"Where is she now?" Ben asked, pretending not to know.
"She stole Snoke's personal shuttle. She is probably going to Crait. The Resistance is there."
"Let's go after her. Send our army to Crait."
"You presume to control my army?" growled Hux. "Do you think I'll bow before you? Our Supreme Leader is dead!"
And suddenly he was being Force-choked by a furious Kylo Ren.
"Exactly. The Supreme Leader is dead!"
"Long live the new Supreme Leader." said Hux, still being choked.
As soon as they'd reached Crait aboard the Upsilon, Ben felt Sara's presence on the planet and heard her voice in his head: Ben. Then he introduced himself as her Supreme Leader, making her laugh, and asked her to get everybody out of the base as fast as possible.
Now he had to find a way to end Hux and Phasma.
Ben walked into the Upsilon control room and heard Hux shouting: "What are you waiting for? Fire that cannon!"
"No." Ben said. "I want to wait, make them feel trapped, hopeless." he needed to give Sara enough time to get everyone out of the rebel-base.
"That's useless! Torturing them now is like torturing corpses! They'll be dead within minutes. Fire!"
But the admiral responsible for the cannon simply looked at Ben and didn't move.
Hux, filled with anger, ran to the control panel and hit the button that fired the cannon himself. Then he took his blaster, showing intention to shoot the admiral, but he aimed and fired at Ben instead. That was exactly what Ben had been waiting for, he avoided the blaster shot and Force-choked Hux, and with a turn of his wrist he broke the man's neck, killing him instantly. No one dared to say a word in the room.
"Stop that cannon." Ben said to the admiral.
"It... it c-can't be stopped, Sir."
Ben searched for Sara through the Force and asked her: Are you safe?
Knowing that everybody in the Resistance had escaped Crait before the cannon shot helped clear Ben's mind to think of the next step. He ordered his pilot, the Knight Seth, to return to the Supremacy.
"This is it, then?" asked Seth. "We're ending the war today?"
"Yes. All we have to do now is kill Phasma and hope that the troopers are on our side."
"I don't think we need to worry about that, Commander. From all I've heard in the little time I've spent with them, the troopers will be more than glad to hear that not only you're ending the war but you'll also help them find a way out from the crimes they committed for the First Order." he paused. "Do you think we'll get out of this mess with a good deal too?"
"I'll try to be the only one sent to the Oovo IV prison." replied Ben. "If it all goes according to plan, you'll all be pardoned."
They parked into the Supremacy's hangar bay and Ben walked out, followed by the Knights of Ren.
"Traitor!" they were received by Phasma shouting, stormtroopers on both sides of her, blasters in hand aiming at the Knights. "You killed our Supreme Leader!"
"A Gray Jedi killed Snoke." Ben calmly replied.
"With your help! I checked the throne room's surveillance cameras." said Phasma. "Now I bet you'll just sell us to the Galactic Alliance!"
"Every word you've just said is true." he raised his hands and removed his mask. "I am here, as your Supreme Leader, to give you," he looked at the stormtroopers. "A way out of this life. You were taken from your families as infants, you were brainwashed and trained to do just one thing: kill for the First Order. Now there's no more war, the First Order is over. And I can give you a safe way out."
"I don't want out!" shouted Phasma. "I want the blood of my enemies! I want victory!" she kept her blaster aimed at Ben, but all the other stormtroopers had slowly put their guns down. "You're all traitors!" she shouted and fired at Ben – who deflected her shot with his lightsaber, running towards her and, with one swift turn of his sword, removing her head from her shoulders. Phasma's headless body fell to the floor of the hangar bay and there were cheers from the stormtroopers.
Ben and the Knights continued to walk towards the command room of the Supremacy.
"It went better than I had imagined." commented Jon as they walked.
"True. Let's hope the troopers on the other ships are as easy to convince as those were." said Ben.
They reached the command room and, from there, Ben ordered all First Order employees to gather in each ships' hangar bay to listen to a message from their Supreme Leader.
"This is your new Supreme Leader speaking," he began. "You all know me as Kylo Ren. The war is over. Right now, I'm taking our entire fleet to Mon Cala, where we'll offer the First Order's surrender to Cal Omas. Those against it are free to leave, but know that I'll make sure none of you is considered responsible for the First Order's crimes."
Almost immediately the answers from their fleet began to arrive: no one was going to leave, everyone was happy surrendering to the Galactic Alliance.
So, the Dreadnought Mandator, thirty Star Destroyers, twenty-seven Resurgent-class Star Destroyers (the Finalizer among them), and their many Cruisers, all followed the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy towards Mon Cala.
A soon as the blue planet was within sight, Ben and the Knights boarded the Upsilon again, taking flight, leaving the hangar bay, and tried to contact the Galactic Alliance.
"This is the First Order's Supreme Leader Ben Solo." the use of his birth name made his fellow Knights turn their heads to look at him. "Requesting permission to land. I come to negotiate the First Order's surrender."
"Welcome, Mr. Solo." a friendly voice answered. "We are already aware of your visit and the reason you're here. I'll send you the landing coordinates promptly."
"You're Ben Solo?" asked Jon, shocked.
"Yes."
"Princess Leia's son?" asked Seth.
"Yes."
"You're royalty, man?" asked another Knight named Len.
"Not really. Alderaan exploded, so... no planet to rule, no royal family." said Ben.
"We always thought that Snoke believed you were Darth Vader's reincarnation or something; we never imagined you were actually his grandson!" said Seth.
"Yes. I used to take pride in that. Now, not so much." said Ben. "There's nothing good in being related to him. Quite the opposite really. It ruined my mother's political career and inspired me to make stupid decisions."
The coordinates arrived and Ben decided that silence was better than talking about his family. Ten minutes later, the Upsilon was parked on Mon Cala, in a parking lot, on a beautiful island, beside a well-known ship.
"Is that the Millennium Falcon?" Jon asked.
"Yes." Ben replied, happy to see that piece of junk after so long.
As they approached the main building of the island, the courthouse, the doors were opened and Cal Omas walked out, followed by other members of the Alliance; and a tired-looking Leia was with them. She walked forward and hugged her son, without saying a word.
"You are here to negotiate the terms of the First Order's surrender." said Cal Omas, a white-haired, blue-eyed man. "And to be judged for your own crimes. Please, come inside to state your terms and let's begin this trial."
"Yes, Chief Omas." said Ben.
Then they all walked into the courthouse.
Three hours later, an agreement was reached: the stormtroopers, and other First Order's employees who decided to continue their military life, would be employed by the Galactic Alliance and sent to planets that needed military personnel; those who didn't want to live that life anymore, would be discharged and free to go to their home planet or wherever they wished to go. The only condition was that they couldn't join any kind of group or political association contrary to the Alliance's views ever again.
The Knights of Ren were condemned for the psychological torture of civilians and sentenced to serve four years of imprisonment on Oovo IV; but they wouldn't have to serve that time for the Judge pardoned them later because they helped bring to an end the reign of terror of the First Order.
Ben Solo was condemned for those same crimes, plus the execution of Lor San Tekka.
Leia was watching the trial with apprehension; Sara had spent nearly an hour talking privately to the Judge and Cal Omas prior to Ben's arrival, but Leia had no idea what they had discussed. All she knew was that Sara couldn't meet with Ben until the end of the trial, so they had put her and Hope in a room away from the place where the trial was being held. Leia saw her only son walk to the middle of the courthouse, and stop in front of the Judge of the Gallactic Alliance Court of Justice, Mavari Zudan.
"Regarding Mr. San Tekka's death," said the Judge. "Do you have anything to say in your defense, Mr. Solo?"
"I was under Snoke's influence." Ben replied.
"But how do you plead?" Zudan asked.
"Guilty."
Mavari Zudan stared at him, not really knowing what to do.
"Mr. Solo." she began. "You're the son of two war heroes; you aspired to become a Jedi, but ended up burning your uncle's Temple to the ground, and helped Snoke raise his reign of terror; however you also put an end to it, and the First Order as well, restoring order to the Galaxy." she paused. "What are your plans for the future, may I ask?"
"If not imprisoned, I plan to live peacefully in Takodana with my wife and children."
The Judge stared at him a while longer, pondering, then she seemed to have an idea:
"Mr. Solo, I sentence you to become a Jedi Master."
Everybody looked at her, not understanding what kind of sentence was that, and parallel conversations abounded in the room.
"Silence, please." Zudan had to ask. "And let me explain: the biggest teacher in life is failure. The great Jedi Master Yoda used to say those words. And you, Mr. Solo, have failed, repeatedly – you made only wrong decisions in your life. With that in mind, I remember that your wife has petitioned the Galactic Alliance to open a new Jedi Praxeum, based on the Potentium beliefs, and I think your experience with failure, and with the Dark-side, will be of great value for the new generation of Force-sensitive children."
Ben was shocked to learn that; Sara had saved him, again.
"Therefore," continued the Judge, "I'll release you in Sara Antilles's custody, to serve as a teacher in her Academy." then she hit the table with her wooden hammer, ending the trial.
Ben walked out of the courthouse into the beautiful sunny day, the Knights following him.
"Are you really going to live in Takodana, Commander?" asked Len.
"Yes." Ben replied. "It's what I wanted to have done four years ago but couldn't."
"I think I'll buy a house there too." said Jon. "Maybe find myself a pretty female to settle down as well. She doesn't even have to be human."
"It'll be nice to have a friend around." Ben smiled, looking around searching for his family.
"Ben!" he heard his mother's voice and saw her almost running towards him.
Leia threw herself into his arms, hugging him, tears falling down her face.
"I'm so glad to see you." she whispered. "I never thought I'd hug you again..."
"It's ok, mom." he whispered.
She touched his face and let go of him. Then Han Solo appeared and Ben faced his father for the first time since the staged murdering attempt.
"I'm sorry, father." Ben whispered.
"For what? Not killing me?" asked Han before pulling his son into a hug. "We'll have plenty of time to talk, son. Let's just be glad this nightmare is finally over." he released him and Ben just nodded, smiling softly.
"Where's Sara?" he asked, looking to the castle's doors.
"She had some papers to sign." explained Leia. "About your custody and the new Jedi Academy."
After a few minutes he saw her walking towards them, a folder full of papers on her left hand and a beautiful little girl holding her right. She no longer wore a Resistance uniform, now she had a dark blue, knee-length, polo dress on; her hair up in a high bun. She looked gorgeous. His eyes fell on the little girl walking by her side.
"Hope." Ben whispered, seeing his daughter in person for the first time.
"She was so worried about you." said Leia.
He saw the moment his daughter' eyes found him, she looked up at her mother and said something. Sara nodded before letting her daughter's hand go and Hope ran towards her father.
Ben got on his knees to be on the same height as the little girl.
She threw herself on him, hugging him tight.
"Daddy! I was so scared for you."
"I'm fine now, baby. It's all fine now."
Hope looked at his face, her beautiful blue eyes filled with tears.
"I feared I'd never meet you." she whispered.
Ben hugged her tight, feeling guilty for making her cry.
"Everything is alright now." he replied, touching her hair, smelling her sweet innocent perfume for the first time.
Sara reached them and Ben stood up, taking Hope in his arms. He pulled Sara close and kissed her.
You look sexy in that dress. He spoke into her mind.
I thought you liked seeing me in your shirts. She replied, making him chuckle.
"Ew! Kissing!" complained Hope. "Stop that!"
And they laughed, stopping the kiss. Ben looked Sara in the eyes, saying into her mind: If you weren't already my wife, I'd ask you to marry me.
She smiled.
As unbelievable as it is, I would say yes, again. She replied.
"So, let's go home?" asked Han.
"And where exactly is that?" Leia asked, expecting her husband to say his ship's name.
"Takodana!" shouted Hope.
"That's right, kid." agreed Han, to Leia's surprise. "Her royal highness here won't ever agree to live on the Falcon." he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. "So, I need to find us a house to buy."
"And we have a Temple to build." said Sara.
"All aboard!" shouted Han, walking to the Falcon, where Chewie stood by the ramp.
And they boarded the Millennium Falcon, going home.
Notes1: This was supposed to be the last chapter but ideas kept coming and I kept writing and suddenly I had 15 pages for chapter 14... so I split it up. Now we'll have 15 chapters. Smut and family-talk in the next one.
Notes2:
1. Mavari Zudan was a female Falleen judge in the Galactic Alliance Court of Justice in 43 ABY. She was the judge during Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker's trial in 43.5 ABY. (Legends)
2. Oovo IV was a prison moon. The Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft was created to guard it. The bounty hunter Jango Fett stole his Firespray-31, Slave I, from Oovo IV (Canon)
3. The Potentium (Legends) was the name of a sect of beings who had a particular way of viewing the Force as a whole (without its traditional division into light and dark sides); they used the term also to refer to the Force itself, instead of the vernacular term common to most of the galaxy—"The Force". The followers of Potentium believe that there is no inherent evil in viewing the Force. They reasoned that if the Force was the energy that flows through all life, the dark side simply came from the corruption of humanity. They claimed that what others called the light side of the Force was actually just the Force itself, which was inherently good. This was backed up by the fact that Ashla, the ancient name of the Force, came later to describe the light side. What others therefore called the dark side was a perversion of the Force, twisted by those who used it.
Believers of Potentium said that the potential for light and dark sides resided in the user, not the Force itself, Jedi Masters refused to believe in the Potentium view because it would mean the Jedi were not needed to fight evil, for evil would not exist.
About a century before the Battle of Naboo, the followers of Potentium were expelled from the Jedi Order, parallel to the Jedi Order's treatment of Grey Jedi as "misguided." Yoda and the rest of the Jedi High Council did not consider them Dark Jedi, but they said it was the duty of the Jedi to use the Force to protect others, not study its absolute limits. The Council said that testing the Force to its limits would lead to the dark side.
The Power of the Jedi Sourcebook states that the Potentium is a corrupt, misguided philosophy, and was the first source considered canonical within the continuity of Star Wars Legends that stated this outright.