It's A Broken Message
Part Three: Application
No one had ever threatened Ben before. He'd gotten some bad glares before and heard some unfriendly thoughts, but Ben himself hadn't been in danger. With his family he'd always assumed that he was safe.
Unfortunately, it was because of his family that he was in this situation to begin with.
The First Order were nothing if not proficient at kidnapping children.
…
Ben glowered at the tall figure in front of him. Ben wasn't sure what exactly he was, but he wasn't human. Pale and scary, he stared at him.
"I am Supreme Leader Snoke." He gave what could pass as a smile, "And I've gone through a lot of trouble to talk to you, young one."
"My mom's gonna kill you." Ben spat, "She, my dad, and my uncles are tracking this ship right now and their gonna catch you."
"Because you're so weak that you can't take care of yourself?" Snoke laughed at him, "How… pathetic."
Ben clenched his fists. He was trying to stop trembling. He could handle this. Somehow.
"I'm not pathetic. You'll see."
"I see right now. You're weak, youngling. Weak and pathetic. But I offer you you power." Snoke closed one fist, "You would be foolish not to take it."
"I want nothing from you." Ben growled. "How stupid do you think I am." What kind of power could this freak offer him anyways? Ben was learning to be a Jedi, he had the Force. He knew of no greater power.
Snoke paused and seemed to inspect his nails. He shrugged.
"I thought you were wiser than those you call family. I thought that you could see the greater purpose."
Ben hated the man's condescending tone. Ben wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't stupid. He had heard the thoughts of stupid people. He knew the blithering and chittering. It annoyed him whenever he went to crowded places. True stupidity was the thoughts that couldn't be understood.
He wanted to know what Snoke was getting at. Greater purpose? That sounded important. Maybe if Ben could find out the man's motives then he could stop him better.
"What do you mean?" His curiosity got the better of him.
"I thought that you could listen to reason."
Ben narrowed his eyes, he was being more roundabout than Uncle Luke when he was talking about Jedi stuff. That was ok, Ben would get it out of him.
"Then tell me." Ben demanded, "If you have reason, then tell me."
"Do you promise to listen, young one?" Snoke tilted his head, "You'd be a fool to stop me just because it's different than the prattling of your precious parents."
"Whatever, I promise." Ben said solemnly. He wondered what he'd gotten himself into because he was really starting to worry his parents wouldn't approve. A small taste of excitement raced through him, cutting through the fear.
Maybe he could get some information that would be valuable for Mom. After all, it didn't seem like Snoke was actually going to hurt him. For once, Ben was the important person on a mission. Yes. He could do these things. He wasn't useless.
"The New Republic is corrupt system that needs to be brought down for their crimes against the galaxy."
"What?" Ben twitched backwards. That was his home Snoke was talking about.
"Do promises mean nothing to you as well?" Snoke growled and Ben took a step backward. "Fool. The New Republic is nothing but lawless chaos."
Ben very much wanted to argue but stayed silent. He'd be the first to admit that the New Republic wasn't perfect. That was what Mother worked so hard on every day. Mother had spent more than his entire lifetime to make sure the government ran properly. That didn't mean it was lawless chaos!
"I could talk about how many people die for the New Republic, but you already know that. You don't care about them. After all, if you had any regard for life whatsoever then you would have done something about them. I could give you a history lesson as too how the galaxy used to be united under a single banner, but you know all about that since it was your family who changed that. I could talk about bureaucrats but you're all set up to become one of those idiots, are you not?
"No, I do not think I can say anything. You are still not listening."
"Yes I am!" Ben snapped immediately. A childish whine crept into his voice.
"No." Snoke said flatly, 'You are not.'
Ben shuddered as the Force fluctuated around him. The was a… darkness? He'd never felt anything like it. It was coming from Snoke. The Force around him was ugly in a way Ben couldn't rightly describe.
'Listen.' Snoke commanded.
Ben continued to feel out with the Force. How could he have missed this around Snoke? He almost reacted his focus in utter revulsion. It'd couldn't be sticky. That must just be his imagination, right? Ben felt strangely dirty, as if he was close to something diseased.
Any excitement from before was gone. If anything was scary, it was this. It just wasn't right. He wanted to go back to the light but he had promised that he'd listen.
He thought that he would hear thoughts but there was no words. As he got deeper into the Force presence the initial wrongness subsided and it merely felt like power. There were loud notes that he thought were emotions but he couldn't make them out. It was too much. He was drowning.
With a gasp, he called his awareness out of there. He wanted to run. He needed to get away from it.
Snoke was surprised by his reaction. The leader of the First Order shifted position and looked slightly less monstrous.
"You don't hear the call, do you?"
"That's the Dark Side, isn't it? You're a Sith!"
"Don't shrink from the Dark Side, youngling." Snoke said slowly. He paused and regarded Ben carefully. "This is how much I care about bringing order to the galaxy." Snoke nodded.
"You turned yourself into that for the galaxy?" Ben shuddered. "Why?"
"You should know that the right path is never easy. Because I'm willing to do anything for the betterment of the galaxy. Are you?"
…
Leia was going to freaking kill someone.
She'd woken up in the middle of the night knowing something was wrong. Han was a half step behind her and Ben was nowhere to be found.
When she scoured his empty bedroom, her heart beating faster than it ever had before, she felt strangely numb. It was almost a clinical detachment. The blankets were on the floor in a crumpled twist. One of Ben's old toys was crushed, the army man's arm a foot away from the cracked torso. She remembered the birthday where he'd gotten it. It had been a present from Lando.
Han was cursing the air blue but Leia remained silent. She wasn't quite sure what to say. Or, rather, she didn't know what would happen if she did open her mouth. Perhaps it would make it real if she verbally acknowledged that her baby had been taken when she was asleep only a few rooms away. He was gone and she was a failure. Maybe it was that curses weren't enough for her. There where no words for what she felt. Nothing could drown out the buzzing of the Force.
She needed a plan. That was apparent.
She needed her son.
She looked at her husband and he went quiet. She took a deep breath and wondered, just wondered. The Force was so loud now and she needed to decide if it could help her. Was it offering her the power she needed or was it betraying her too?
She closed her eyes and focused on what was around her and in her. The emotions she'd detached herself from surged. She took the time to identify them. Then she looked at the Force, really examined it. She was forced to admit that giving into her emotions wouldn't actually her her. The Dark Side wouldn't help Ben.
It was a good thing that she was more than just a Force user, now wasn't it?
…
Ben was left alone again. He mulled over everything that the Snowcone guy had said. It wasn't logical. He knew that the New Republic was doing good. The First Order had freaking kidnapped him, they certainly weren't his friends. But Snoke's dedication to his cause was shaking something loose in Ben.
He growled and mussed his hair aggressively. The Dark Side really unsettled him. He had never really come into contact with it before. It had always been an abstract warning from Uncle Luke, to not give into anger. Ben had never really understood before.
To be honest, he still didn't. That power just felt wrong. It wasn't like how the Light Side, the Force he knew from every day of his life, called to him. The Darkness was unnatural.
The room he was kept in was mostly dark, some shiny new ship interior. He'd searched the room before for any control panels that could let him control the ship earlier, but unfortunately the First Order had been too smart to stick him in with anything other than sleek metallic walls. If the ship had been older then Ben would have searched more for any smugglers holds. It was only out of habit that he had knocked on the walls at all.
His token escape attempt foiled, he was free to brood. It was a good thing that Ben was comfortable with being quiet and with only his thoughts for entertainment. He knew quite a few kids from school who would go crazy from sitting alone. He was different, always had been. The only place he fit in was with his family, they were the same. But… now Snoke claimed that Ben was different from them as well. Not just different. Better. Able to change things for the best.
Ben huffed and tried to just ignore it all. Snoke was his enemy. That should be the end of it.
He sensed someone coming. The vibrations of footfall made the floor tremble and the door opened. Ben turned his head and saw a teenager a few years older than him in a uniform. The red head's face was pinched, looking like he'd just smelled something awful. Ben became concerned that it could be a tray of food he carried.
"Here are your rations." He sniffed as he gracefully and very deliberately dropped the tray to the floor. Ben could make out his name when he bent down, Hux.
Ben jumped to his feet in a confused sort of outrage, "You could have spilled something!"
"But I didn't," Hux frowned but a corner of his lips raised, "Prisoner. What do you care?"
What did Ben care? This wasn't a pleasure cruise. But… but!
With a dark satisfaction he realized that this Hux wasn't highly ranked. Not yet. He was too young. Ben felt confident that if he really tried, Ben could probably beat up this guy. Despite Hux's height he was kind of a twig. Of course Ben couldn't make it passed the guards at the door so it wouldn't have served any purpose but that wasn't the point.
He didn't put it into words. There wasn't even thought put into it. Ben was going to make this guys time a nightmare.
"Do you even know who I am?"
"I don't care who you're mommy is, brat." Hux spat, "You're all just New Republic trash to me. And guess what? Mommy can't protect you here."
Ben was planning on acting whatever he said, but now he had an excuse. In fact, he was going to make it even worse. No one disrespected his mother.
The contents of his dinner tray started flying at Hux. The red head only had time to gape before being covered in mystery mash and a brown sticky sauce. He almost looked pathetic as his combed back hair was full of gunk and his freshly pressed uniform was irreversibly stained. Almost. The utter fury in his light eyes promised a fight.
"I don't need anyone's protection." Ben gloated, "And, I'm not the trash here."
"Oh, you are trash." Hux promised as he turned on heel. Ben got the feeling that he was trying not to strangle him at the moment. "The sooner we throw you out, the better." He left. Hux hated him.
Ben growled and managed to chuck the tray at him before the cell doors closed. See, he wasn't powerless. He'd had more control than the other guy.
Maybe Snoke was right- Ben was different from his family. He couldn't imagine his father throwing food at some First Order minion. No, Dad probably could have talked his way out and left everything to luck. That made Ben so mad. How could anyone leave anything so inexact? So up to chance? No, Ben was able to take control of situations. He could see that now.
Why hadn't Mom come for him yet?
…
The Falcon was on it's way. Now Han felt like he could actually breathe. Oh, he still felt like shooting people but it was better now that he was actually doing something. Leia had gone through her New Republic contacts and had luckily been able to track which ship that had taken their son. It was a new model, very expensive, and Han had been able to use his own contacts to find where it had gone. It was nice to be important somewhere.
He was reminded of when they were all back in the Rebellion. Even after all these years they still had the same rhythm. He and Chewie were flying the Falcon, Leia was working on the plan, and Luke was being Luke. They'd picked Luke up from his Jedi Academy since it was on the way, and ever since he'd gotten on board he'd go from meditating and using his Jedi not-so-hokey Force magic to look for Ben, to asking Leia about the plan, to checking on the ship.
If Ben had been there then it would have felt like home.
Maybe after they rescued him they should all go on a vacation. He'd pretend that Ben actually cared about flying the Falcon and teach him some tricks that Leia would frown at. He'd pull Luke out of his Force and remind him that he was still a kid. Or, at least to Han he'd always be a kid, it was bizarre to remember that everyone was getting older. Han would show Leia that the New Republic wasn't going to collapse if she took a break. And of course flying with Chewie was always the dream. The furball actually had sense.
…
Ben glowered at Snoke. This latest chat was more infuriating than any of the others. He really just wanted to plunge a lightsaber into the Snowcone's stupid face.
"Oh yes, your illustrious Uncle." Snoke grimaced. He waved his hand dismissively. "You will have problems with his new Jedi Order."
"Oh? Will I?" That was assuming a lot. Ben had always wanted to be a Jedi. Then again, he did know that Uncle Luke didn't know everything about the Force. Ben had always known that his uncle had self-taught himself a lot, in fact he'd admired that, but Snoke provided another point of comparison. While his uncle recommended meditation and was always vague about things, Snoke told him things about the Dark Side just offhand. Ben was learning more about the Force from someone who wasn't even trying to teach him.
"Your mother never became a Jedi. Did you ever wonder why?"
"She was too busy." Ben had asked her before, "The New Republic needed a leader more than another Jedi."
"Jedi don't love." Snoke hissed, stepping closer to Ben.
"That's not true!" Ben protested. That such a lie. Uncle Luke loved him! And his uncle also loved his sister. Uncle Luke was one of the kindest, most loving people that he knew.
"Skywalker is attempting to reinstate a corrupt order who brought themselves down with their own mistakes. Think about your history classes. There were thousands of Jedi. How else could they all be brought low from one Sith Lord if they weren't rotting for centuries?"
"Well, Uncle Luke's doing it better." Ben argued. He'd met the Jedi his uncle was trained. They were all nice people.
"Skywalker is blind. He relies on the tales of ghosts and ignores necessary progress." Snoke coughed a partial chuckle, "Skywalker in that respect lacks the vision of his father."
"Darth Vader?" Ben took a deep breath. What would a Dark Side user have to say about his grandfather? He was always exciting to hear about. Mom never said a word and Uncle Luke was unfortunately cagey about him. Dad would curse Vader out which was always fun. But the rest of the galaxy still seemed terrified of the man long dead.
Snoke sent an almost approving glance at Ben. He looked entirely too smug. "Yes, Darth Vader. Perhaps the only one of your family with any drive. Isn't it funny how his children strive to undo all his progress?" Ben didn't even have to ask before he continued. "Your mother tore down the stability of the Empire and Skywalker is building back the Jedi Order. It is only to be expected when children are raised incorrectly."
Ben bristled. He noticed that he was doing that a lot. Snoke should stop criticizing Mom.
"You are a hypocrite." Snoke laughed at him.
"Where did that even come from? Or has the Dark Side rotted your brains as well as your face?" Ben raised an eyebrow. He wondered if he looked like his mom right them.
Then he couldn't breathe.
Even as Ben was lifted off the ground, his feet left to dangle uselessly, Snoke seemed to get taller.
"You will not speak that way to me." Snoke's wrist shook as he tightened the clamping gesture.
Ben would talk to anyone as he pleased. He'd call anyone a nerfherder if he wanted. He'd mock anyone who deserves it. He never backed down.
He choked out a vaguely affirmative noise and was tossed to the ground. The corrupted Force retreated as he sputtered on his knees. His neck still felt like phantom fingers gripped him and he massaged it as if to prove that nothing was actually there.
"You are a hypocrite, and a fool." Snoke's voice echoed throughout the chamber. "You will never do that again."
Ben nodded agreement. He tried to remind himself that he could actually breath now.
"Perhaps it is not your fault. Of course you are weak. That is only to be expected."
Ben wasn't even listening anymore. Snoke wasn't going to stand for that. The Force started holding him in place and Ben could do nothing but look at Snoke. The Darkness around him seemed to invade his mind. It hammered in pay attention.
"You seem to think that you belong with your parents. You think that there's a right that parents have to keep there children. Then isn't it," Ben could feel the Darkness pulsate as if to provide emphasis, "Wrong that Darth Vader's children were taken from him since before they were born and raised to kill him? At least in your simple view of things."
Ben would have thought about how ironic this was to come from a kidnapper but he wasn't actually managing to think at the moment. Words didn't exist, let alone his normal defenses. Emotion enveloped him, it left him in panic.
Snoke seemed to realize that he was overdoing it and released Ben yet again. It felt so dismissive, as if Ben was the one lacking.
When Ben could finally think again, Snoke continued. "Organa and Skywalker did exactly what they were groomed to do. When you realize that then you'll notice that they were always pawns. I'd be disappointed in you if you just as blindly followed the Jedi."
"Because I so obviously care about your disappointment?" Ben drawled without a thought. Then he covered his neck.
"You will become my apprentice one day." Snoke waved a hand grandly. "You will become mine when your precious uncle shows you the truth of the Jedi. You will see how the very order of the galaxy rests on destroying the New Republic."
"Why do you want me?" Ben asked, "Why couldn't you find someone who actually wants to become a Sith? There are other people with the Force." I just want to go home!
Snoke twisted his features into a triumphant grin. "I know. What do you actually know about the First Order, youngling?"
"It came from a fragment of the Empire and serves the Dark Side." Ben muttered.
"Indeed, it was for the Dark Side of the Force. Skywalker might have the beginnings of a Jedi Order but it is I with the army." Snoke laughed, "He could never compete with me. He only takes my scraps."
"You can't mean-" Ben thought back to all the Force signatures he'd sensed on the ship.
"Hardly anyone's worth training." Snoke loomed over him, "There all so weak. But I do not question the will of the Force."
…
The rescue had been an organized mess. Lightsabers and blasters had lit the shiny First Order ship up like fireworks. Strangely, after the fight Luke had been a bit too easy. He wasn't going to complain, not with Ben back with them and safe, but the ship had been running on a skeleton crew. Only the bare minimum personnel had been crewing the ship and they weren't exactly surprised to have the Millennium Falcon board them.
Ben was asleep now, and his poor nephew looked like he needed. He didn't appear to be physically hurt but the experience had been hard on him. He hadn't said much beyond that he wanted Snoke dead and then had latched on to his parents.
Luke worried that they'd never get the full story of what happened. Ben was too much like his parents that way. Luke just hoped they'd get enough of it to help his nephew.
"Luke?"
The Jedi jumped, he hadn't even noticed his sister. That was a distinct problem with meditation. Unless he was doing it wrong.
"What wrong?" Luke rose to his feet. Leia's face was doing a deadly combination of assured doom and concern. Things tended to explode when she looked like that.
"I talked to the Council and the New Republic isn't going after the First Order for this."
"What?!" Luke let out a short huttese curse from childhood, "After all you've done for them? The First Order needs to be held accountable. We can't just let them abduct any child they please."
"It's politics." Leia ground out. Politics were her bread and butter so if she was disgusted with them then it was worse than Luke thought. "The New Republic is having enough trouble keeping itself together. We don't have the resources for a full scale war right now. That's why we didn't take out the First Order when they were just another small fragment of the Empire."
"Is that right?" Han strode in from the cockpit, "So the New Republic's just going to let this slide."
Leia huffed as she explained, "As long as the New Republic doesn't fire on the First Order then the First Order won't attack the New Republic. That stalemate's kept the peace."
"Oh, so as long as the peace is kept. That's fine then." Han said snidely.
"The New Republic has more than the Rebellion ever did." Luke looked back to his sister. "Snoke's just going to become an even bigger problem if we don't take care of him."
"I know." Leia said sharply, "We should never have allowed him to get as powerful as he is. A few years ago we could have easily crushed him but we were too busy with preventing another civil war. The First Order has never been the first priority of the Republic." The message was clear. She thought that the New Republic had made a terrible mistake. She thought that she had messed up.
"What do we do then?" Han shifted his weight, "Wait a few more years until Snoke declares himself the emperor?"
"We need to keep our son safe." Leia said. Luke could feel the Force tremble at her words. "No matter what, I am not letting Snoke get close to him again." Her fists clenched and Han moved closer to her as if to give her support. "I need to think something over."
"Leia, what is it?"
She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "It's a crazy idea, completely impractical…"
"We're waiting, your worship." Han gave her a look. Leia rolled her eyes and casually elbowed him. No one noticed that Ben stirred.
"Can't have that, now can I?" Leia crossed her arms, "I'm thinking about leaving the New Republic."
"Leia!" Luke protested. That was all she had worked for. Her whole life had gone into the New Republic. What else was there?
Han was similarly surprised but gave her the well, go on, Princess- I don't have all day look.
"I always was a better general than an administrator," Leia continued, "And I still have some contacts from the Rebels."
"You've lost me." Luke really hoped that Leia wasn't suggesting a rebellion against the New Republic. He knew the last week had been hard on his sister and she was furious but that was going a bit far. He was frustrated at the New Republic as well, but dismantling them seemed a little to much. Of course, Luke wouldn't try to stop her if she had decided that was the best course of action, not with how much their ungrateful selves had put Leia through over the years- even excluding this recent piece of crud. But… maybe he'd suggest a better way of taking them over than a rebellion. With how high ranked Leia was, it'd probably only take a week of unpleasantness for her to be truly leading things. Not that Luke actually wanted to dismantle another government but to be honest his sister really didn't deserve to put up with them.
"I'm thinking of setting up a resistance to the First Order. The resistance would technically be unconnected to the New Republic so I wouldn't be endangering all our citizens but that way we could actually fight the First Order before they get any bigger."
Oh. That was why Leia usually made the plans. Luke decided not to mention his treasonous plot. It was probably un-Jedilike to take down a democracy.
"It be getting right back in the action." Han didn't disagree. He just watched his wife's face.
"Some of us aren't getting to old for it." She shot back.
"Hey!"
Luke chuckled as their marital bliss continued. He should have known not to worry too much. As long as they were all together they could handle anything. They'd take on Snoke when they could. They'd protect Ben.
Luke was going to try to teach Ben some more self defense tactics. He'd try to stop by more often and teach him enough so that he'd be able to protect himself- just in case. As long as Ben was ok then their family would pull through things. He probably wasn't old enough for a lightsaber yet, but maybe in a few years he could come to Luke's small Jedi Order and they could build one together.
He'd heard something about an ancient Jedi temple. Maybe if he found it he could find something that even Snoke couldn't contend with. He'd just have to keep an ear out and see what surfaced. Maybe he could teach Ben to be an even better Jedi than he had ever been.
A/N: THIS FIC HAS GOTTEN LONGER THAN I PLANNED! What started out as a Oneshot/Twoshot kinda thing has blown up. Like I planned out what the rest of this would be and... this only took 4 of my bullets. *sigh* I really thought I was going to get this done quickly but it's stretching itself out. I think the remaining parts will come faster though- like oh my gosh some of this was so hard to write and I don't know why. Strangely enough, Snowcone's manipulations and the ending chunk were the easiest to write. I'm just so glad that this part is over. And THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR KIND REVIEWS! It makes me so happy that people are enjoying this! Next chapter will be a bit more humorous, I promise. And actually have more character interactions. That being said... the closer we get to Ben becoming Kyle, the darker this is gonna get. I feel so sorry for everyone. LEIA DOESN'T DESERVE THIS. And well, neither do Han and Luke. Chewie certainly dosen't. Oh well.