Chapter 15

Revelations

Finn didn't take his eyes off Bendar for even a second as Poe scrutinized him for a moment and then stretched out his hand for his enemy to shake. Bendar's face didn't betray anything but a certain sense of relief, which Finn couldn't quite place. Poe manged a smile and Finn knew exactly what that smile and that handshake cost him. But instead of keeping both to himself, he offered them to Bendar freely and by doing so he was proving again that he was the better man.

Bendar let go of Poe's hand as soon as the soldiers had reached them. Four of them stayed with them, while the others started moving towards the main entrance. More shuttles were already approaching and, while a couple of them were heading in their direction, most of them were aiming for the main hangar and Finn's suspicions that Bendar's people really wouldn't be allowed to stay here, were confirmed.

He had to admit that he understood what Bendar had done and why on some level, but that didn't mean that he could condone any of it. Bendar had let those people on Birken Six die either by not stepping in or by simply allowing that massacre to happen or ordering the attack. Meelan Bendar might care about certain people, but that didn't mean that he was allowed to treat the rest of the galaxy like garbage just to keep those few he cared about out of harm's way. Well, his plan had backfired, and but still Finn still felt the violent urge to knock this man to the ground. He could still feel Poe's terror, could still see that pregnant woman falling to the ground and the town around her burn down to ashes. Pictures like these had been so far away from his mind for such a long time and being thrown right back into them made him feel like the desperate Stormtrooper he had been that night on Jakku right before he had decided to rescue Poe and desert from the First Order.

Finn looked in the direction of the shuttle again as three people started walking down the ramp. At the sight of them, he suddenly felt like he had missed a step walking down a flight of stairs. He hadn't expected Rey to show up, or the tall, dark haired man right by her side and the person following them both like a shadow. Rey looked as confident and as serene as she had at his graduation ceremony. They hadn't talked since, but as she exchanged a few words with her two companions, she didn't appear angry or worried about their encounter anymore.

"So… Rey is here, huh?", Poe said, ignoring Bendar and looking directly at Finn. "And I guess I know one of the other guys. That's Antilles? Was he in the Resistance?"

Finn nodded grimly and tried to avoid those piercing blue eyes of the tall man with the round face walking towards them alongside Rey. This only meant however that Finn had to look at the other man, whose hair was a bit shorter than Finn remembered it. The scar on his face, though it had paled somewhat over the years, was still visible.

"Who is that other guy?", Poe whispered conspiratorially, but Finn shook his head. The soldiers around them probably didn't know who that man was either, but they didn't need to know.

"So Clayn has sent out a committee to greet you. How wonderful." Bendar's sarcasm was nothing but an obvious attempt to mask his insecurity. Finn couldn't care less about that though. So Rey had brought her cousin along… how fitting. Finn wasn't sure which of the two men he wanted to talk to less. But at least Nej Antilles was someone Finn could perhaps talk to without getting angry right away. It wasn't that Nej was a bad guy, only that he hadn't been very understanding of Finn's decision to not engage in Force training and the argument that had ensued hadn't really ended well. Ever since talking to Rey had been difficult as well. Rey's cousin on the other hand was an entirely different matter.

"I think they're here for your benefit as much as ours," Poe said. "After all, the Jedi are getting more and more involved in the Republic's matters."

Bendar didn't comment on Poe's remark, but kept looking at the three people approaching them in their plain, yet unmistakeable robes. If he was nervous, Bendar managed not to show it.

Rey was the only one meeting Finn's gaze, though it was hard to tell what she was thinking. Her face didn't reveal any emotion or even one single thought. Her two companions were focused on Bendar. As they reached them, Finn couldn't help but wonder, if Rey knew what had happened and why her cousin was with her and her boyfriend. Finn had no idea, why that man, whom Skywalker allowed to be his Force scout, was even here, since it seemed highly unlikely that he would be here for someone already known to be Force-sensitive. There had to be someone else, Finn thought and he remembered that boy, who had accompanied Bendar to their cell. Morap Bendar. Bendar's son, whose mere presence and wide eyed stare had derailed Finn for a moment. Was the boy the reason all three of them had turned up?

Poe, who seemed to be catching on to how uncomfortable it made Finn to be close to the Jedi, made to speak up, but Antilles was faster.

"Bendar?" Nej Antilles' blue eyes were trained on Bendar and his voice was all business like. Like he didn't even care that Finn and Poe were right there in front of him as well.

The former First Order officer nodded and just looking at the way Bendar was standing here on the brink of destruction of everything he had built here on this planet these last seven years, made Finn wonder why this man, who practically appeared to have the very essence of the Order running through his veins, had never become was widely known as General Hux or any of the other leaders Finn had served for the better part of his life. Bendar certainly appeared to have the makings of someone the Order would have considered a very fine officer, but something must have gone wrong for Bendar. Finn had to admit however that he didn't really care for Bendar's life story.

"You're under arrest, Bendar, for the kidnapping of Commander Dameron and Doctor Finn here. Moreover, you're suspected of leading a smuggler ring, which is doing business in the Republic and who knows what we else might discover here. Please accompany these men to the shuttle."

Bendar had gone even paler, but didn't say a word or spare another look at Poe or Finn, before he was led away by the soldiers.

"So," Rey said quietly, turning to look at Poe, not Finn. Their last encounter at his graduation clearly hadn't been forgotten by her either. How stupid this whole situation was, Finn thought. They had never been this far apart and this time it was only because of that arrogant so called Jedi at her side. "You like getting yourself into these kind of situations, Poe? Because I recall picking you up after a similar encounter with Bendar a couple of years ago and before that-"

"Oh, Rey", Poe interrupted her and put his arm around Finn's shoulders, as if this whole encounter on a planet ruled by someone who had seemingly tried to re-establish the First Order and had acquired the rank of a minor war lord was nothing more than a mere casual chance meeting in the streets of Hanna City. "You know us too well," Poe said with a wide grin on his face.

Only Rey had accompanied them back to the shuttle, while Antilles and Rey's cousin remained behind on the planet, looking for something only they knew about. The short trip to the Liberty had passed in total silence, which had only been breached by the engines' constant rumbling.

Finn had avoided looking at Rey and simply sat there, his knee touching Poe's, while the ship glided through the atmosphere and into the space beyond. It had been the only contact to Poe he had allowed himself, since he had no idea whether or not Rey actually did know or feel, or suspect that something had changed and actually talking about it in front of Bendar had seemed horribly wrong, especially since Finn had no idea what was going on with Bendar's son. But despite being uncomfortable revealing what had happened to Rey, he felt like he owed it to her to be honest about it.

Clayn hadn't wanted to talk to him or Poe, so they had been asked to wait in the cafeteria, while Bendar was being questioned by the General. The table at which they were sitting was situated right at a huge window overlooking the main hangar. A mug of caff clutched tightly in his hand, Finn watched as more and more people were escorted from the shuttles to the corridors. How many ships had Clayn brought to this rescue mission?

When Rey had accompanied them to the cafeteria, shortly before going back to the planet, she had told Poe that their message had indeed been received by the Republic and that several villagers had survived the attack on Birken Six and one of them, probably one of the few people capable of flying a ship and therefore in possession of the much needed information on the location of Bendar's base, had told them where to find the attackers.

Neither he, nor Poe had said a word since they had sat down here, each with a mug of steaming hot liquid in their hands. At least their feet were touching and that seemed to be enough for now. They were both tired and dead on their feet, but going to sleep was impossible. Sighing, Finn took a gulp of caff and as he turned to look at Poe, who appeared to be deep in thought, he reached over and grabbed his hand. What they shared had transformed over night, he knew, and only now was Finn able to fully understand what had been going on with Poe these last couple of years. Perhaps, he really should go and talk to Rey as soon as she got back. Perhaps, he really should work on what it was that had made it possible for him and Poe to communicate on an entirely different level. He felt like it had saved Poe in a way Finn wouldn't have been able to do on his own.

Poe squeezed his hand, but didn't return his gaze. His eyes were still trained on the hangar. "Do you think they have enough holding cells for everyone back on that planet?", Poe asked and Finn shrugged.

"Not really, no, but I'll be damned, if Clayn didn't send for reinforcements. And from what Rey said all of Bendar's ships have gone off to who knows where, so I guess most soldiers are gone anyway. There'll be only a few of them left, plus all the officers and their… families?" Finn had to think of that little boy again.

Nodding, Poe gave Finn's hand a light squeeze. It was evident that he still had problems imagining Bendar with a family, but Finn really couldn't help but admire Poe for his bravery in offering Bendar his hand. Of course nothing of what had happened in the past had been forgotten or forgiven, but they had at least admitted that neither of them had wanted things between them to be the way they were.

"So," Poe said and looked Finn directly in the eye. "Are we going home now and pretend that nothing has happened?"

It took a while for Finn to formulate an answer. Of course going back and just forgetting about Bendar and this whole ordeal was next to impossible, but he knew what Poe meant. Did he want to continue with his life, or did he want to actually do something with what he had discovered these last couple of days? The very fact that Poe asked this question showed Finn how well what they had shared back in that cell had been received by Poe, who had always seemed kind of reserved on that subject.

"Well…", Finn began and looked down at their intertwined fingers on the perfectly clean grey table in front of them. "I guess I should have a chat with Rey about some stuff," he admitted, before saying what had been lying on his chest for quite some time and which he had been unable to formulate even in his mind, "and I also think that we should check up on the people back on Birken Six, before we go home…"

The light pressure Poe's hand applied on his felt like a confirmation, but Poe didn't say anything. The only response he made was a nod and a vague smile. Finn still wasn't sure about finding his family, though he had this weird feeling that, if he had had family back on that planet, they were most likely already dead. But still… they had come all this way and after these couple of days it would have been a crime to not at least go and see if they could help the people on Birken Six, who at least at told the Republic where Bendar's organization was situated, thus helping in the rescue of him and Poe.

Poe was still smiling and raised himself up on his chair, as if he had seen something of particular interest. "There's Bendar's family by the looks of it."

Finn followed Poe's gaze and saw the boy, walking off a shuttle next to an obviously pregnant woman and accompanied by the three Jedi. So they had indeed come here for the boy… Finn felt a shiver run down his spine as he thought of Bendar's son becoming a Jedi. Of course he'd only become one, if he wanted to, but that didn't mean that Morap Bendar didn't have powers that could have been put to evil use by his father, had he known about them.

"Who is that guy?" Poe asked, his brow furrowed. "The one with the funky hair in the dark robes? Do you know him?"

"Yes," Finn said finally and staring down at the man himself. "And so do you. Kind of. He's General Organa's son."

It took a moment for Poe to understand what he had said. As the coin dropped, Finn saw pure outrage spread over Poe's face. "He's what?!" he burst out, his eyes wide and he jumped up from his chair, staring down at the hangar and the five people retreating into one of the corridors. "You're telling me that this guy is-"

"Sh!" Finn raised his hands and looked around the cafeteria. There weren't a lot of people here, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be overheard. "Yes, he is, and I don't know the whole story. Could you please sit down? It's supposed to be a secret."

Poe stared down at him for a whole minute, before slowly settling down in the chair again, a look on his face, which suggested that he was deeply offended by Finn keeping this a secret from him for all these years. But somehow it had never come up and Finn hadn't thought that Poe needed to know what became of the Jedi, since Poe was most likely never to be in contact with them, except maybe Rey and she had always kept her silence. "I'm sorry I haven't told you before," Finn said quietly as Poe crossed his arms over his chest.

"You better be…", he murmured, still staring at the spot where Ren had vanished. Poe remained silent for a while and Finn let him be. "I thought he was dead…"

Finn nodded. "Well, he isn't." He gave Poe another moment, before continuing, "I don't know the whole story, but it had apparently something to do with Hux… it seems like Ren surrendered to General Organa at some point and from then on he was working with Rey and Skywalker on defeating Snoke. I'm not sure how they did it in the end, but they did and Hux and Ren have been living near Skywalker's Jedi Academy since after the end of the war and Ren has become kind of a scout for Skywalker. Finding potential trainees and such…"

Poe had gone white as a sheet at this revelation, and Finn half expected him to get up and leave him sitting here, but he didn't and Finn was grateful for it, especially since he knew that Poe must be thinking about doing just that. "And no one thought this whole thing could be dangerous? Just trusting him with potential Jedi like this?"

Finn shrugged. "I'm in no position to question Skywalker's decisions, or General Organa's, am I? I guess no one but Skywalker knows as much about how badly things can go wrong with Ren around, but that's probably why Rey is with him every time they go and try to find someone Force-sensitive."

"Have you talked to him?"

Finn felt the scar tissue on his back itch at the very thought. "No, I haven't. Rey told me the basics some time ago, and I only saw him once, when Skywalker and Rey told me about this Force thing on their planet shortly after the war. He kept to the back of the room and just remained standing there, not saying a word. It was kind of creepy… I haven't seen him since."

"And Hux?"

Somehow this whole Hux thing felt less important to Finn. Hux had been in charge of the Stormtrooper training programme ever since his father's death, but Finn had never had anything to do with the man, and to be honest he had never cared much about what had happened to him after the war had ended. In a way they had all been trapped in the same system during their entire lives and most hadn't been able to turn their back on the Order the way Finn had. Bendar had kept on living by the rules of the First Order and so had a lot of others along with him by the looks of it, but Hux and Ren had at least stopped serving the Order at some point, though Finn had no idea when Armitage Hux had done so. The very fact that he had, seemed to count for something somehow though. "I haven't seen him. No idea what he's up to, but I guess Skywalker is keeping an eye out for him," he admitted, "I guess he's mostly harmless nowadays and I guess he hasn't killed anyone these last couple of years…"

Poe only smiled vaguely, but the tension in his shoulders appeared to have lessened somewhat.

As he had reached the control room, he had seen his mother delete the last of the data in the base's main control room. Already he could see soldiers entering the complex and the screens of the surveillance cameras and his father walking outside the complex with Dameron and Finn. Just as he had reached his mother's side, who was the only one left in the control room, one of their own soldiers had entered the room, holding one huge bag, and then left. His mother hadn't said a word, not even when the two people in those peculiar robes had turned up. No one had spoken and the silence had felt suffocating and made this whole ordeal of waiting for the inevitable hard to bear. When finally, a third person, a woman of uncanny calm had joined them to accompany them to a shuttle and then to a very small, but more or less accommodating room, Morap had felt his sense of dread reach a level he had never known before. His father had been taken into custody, he knew. He hadn't seen Embee, or anyone else on their way here, and the two men, especially the one with the dark hair and the scar on his face, was intimidating. Morap just kept the crystal clutched tightly in his hand and only just managed to refrain from taking his mother's hand like a little child. These people were the enemy, he knew. The Republic's soldiers they met on their way to the small living space, were of different species and Morap couldn't help but remember what his father had told him about different species serving humans rather than working alongside them. What irritated him more than anything was that he didn't seem to pick up any kind of hostility against himself from either human or non-human and that just didn't feel right.

"May I talk to you for a moment?" The man with the short dark hair and piercing blue eyes looked down at him with something like a smile.

The honest answer would have been that Morap didn't want to talk to either him or one of his companions. His father had been taken prisoner by them, they had forced them all to abandon their home, and the last thing Morap wanted to do was talk to the people who were destroying his life. But he also knew that he was in no position to argue or rebuff the request. Morap looked up at the man, who was clutching the bag, which he had searched upon arrival, and then at the tall man with the scar and lastly to the woman, who smiled down at him with a smile he hadn't expected of her.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you, or your mother."

Nataleeh scoffed, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes narrowed. "Of course not…", she murmured and Morap knew exactly what she must be feeling. She had to be just as terrified as he was and especially worried about her husband and these three people here were just as threatening as any of the soldiers outside.

"You are not wearing a uniform, unlike most people on that base down there on that planet, so I guess you are a civilian. That's why you're here and not in one of the holding cells," the woman said, her voice a bit harsher now. "But we do not torture prisoners, if that's what you're worried about. Your leader is being questioned by General Clayn, and believe me that he will not hurt a single hair on his head."

Answering this explanation of events with silence, Nataleeh turned her back on the woman and Morap felt like joining her at the viewscreen showing the planet they had all lived on for so long, but of course he knew that talking to the three people couldn't be avoided if they really actually wanted to do so.

"He's my father," Morap said quietly and looked up at the man with the blue eyes. The scarred man just remained standing by the doorway, his eyes trained on Morap's mother. Was he threatening her? Morap couldn't tell, except that he didn't exactly feel like either of the three of them was hostile towards either him or his mother. Not yet anyway.

The man with the blue eyes, put the bag on the floor and raised his eyebrow. "And your name is…?"

"Morap," he said without raising his voice one bit. His mother looked at him over her shoulder and Morap couldn't help but notice that her face was showing no emotion whatsoever. So she wasn't going to help him.

"Hello Morap. I'm Nej. Nej Antilles. I see you're holding a crystal. May I ask where you got it?"

Morap looked up at his mother again and as their eyes met, she shrugged, though for the flicker of a second he could see something like fear in her eyes. "They are Jedi, Morap. They are going to get the information from you whether you want them to know or not."

"That's not how we do it!" The woman said, anger audibly reverberating in her voice. But she didn't deny it! She didn't deny that they were Jedi? Morap had heard of them in stories, had even read about them in a couple of historical records, but for some reason he had never thought he'd actually get to meet one of them! After all, they were supposed to be extinct and here there were three of them! He had never had a fully formed picture of a Jedi in his mind, had no idea whether they were portrayed as evil or heroic, but they had seemed fascinating to him for some strange reason.

"You're Jedi?!" Morap couldn't help but blurt out in astonishment. "But-"

Nej Antilles was still looking down at him, but not at all unfriendly. This mixture of fear Morap was feeling on behalf of his mother, father and even himself, and surprise and awe and meeting these legendary warriors was hard to grasp. His mouth felt horribly dry as he pressed the crystal very tightly to his chest in which his heart was racing like mad.

"I'll explain everything to you, if you let me. If you want, none of my friends is going to stay here in this room with your mom. Does that make you feel a bit more comfortable?"

Morap shook his head and looked back at his mother, who turned around to face him, open conflict showing on her face. What she was thinking, Morap couldn't tell, but he saw the treacherous sparkle in her eyes, which he had barely ever seen there. She nodded ever so slightly after a while.

"But only if we all leave this room together and I can see the other two all the time," Morap said and Nej nodded in agreement. The crystal in Morap's hand was growing warmer and Morap was almost sure that his heart was most likely never to stop racing ever again.