Hey guys! I am so sorry it's been so long! I've been super excited about these next chapters, and I've wanted to get them right. They aren't perfect and will probably undergo quite a bit of editing, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging!
Also, I updated the previous chapter to include Ben's POV, so if you haven't read that part yet, please go back and read it otherwise you will probably be very confused!
Please enjoy!
"Ow…" Ben grumbled as he regained consciousness. He brought his hand to his head. His temples were pounding ferociously. Still only vaguely aware of his surroundings, he wiped the fog from his face and looked around. Very quickly he found an unconscious Wookiee.
"Chewie!" Ben struggled to his knees and shuffled over to the Wookiee. Before he got to him, the ship shook violently, and Ben was thrown on his back. Ben grunted and tried again. He shook the Wookiee and checked to make sure he was still alive.
"Chewie wake up!" He shook the Wookiee harder. Finally Chewie sturred and Ben leaned back to let the furry creature get his bearings. Short slurred growling was heard as Chewie huffed himself back to reality.
"Someone's flying this ship," said Ben "We need to go find out who. Get your bowcaster ready." He patted Chewie on the shoulder as they both got on their feet. Chewie found his bowcaster on the floor and picked it up. Ben patted his thigh and found his blaster still in his holster. Whoever had attacked them hadn't bothered to disarm them. How long had they been out?
Ben took his blaster and aimed it for the cockpit. Slowly, Chewbacca and Ben headed in that direction. The ship was still experiencing turbulence and Chewie and Ben had to shift their balance multiple times. It didn't help that they were both nauseatingly dizzy from being stunned. Just traveling a short distance was a struggle. Ben was experiencing increased anxiety as they closed in on the target. He wasn't used to being blindsided so easily. He hadn't expected to have to defend himself so soon without the Force.
When they reached the cockpit they both leaned up against the wall on both sides. Ben looked over to Chewie, his blaster close to his chest. He was careful not to breathe too fast despite his adrenaline spiking, and his stomach turning.
"I'll see who it is, and then I'll blast them. Once I do, you come in and grab them," Ben explained in a whisper. Chewie nodded.
This would be so much easier with the Force. Ben thought to himself. He peeked in slowly, and all he could see was a crop of short silvery-white hair exposed from the side of the pilot's seat. Soon, he saw a blue hand in tip-less leather gloves reach for the controls. The attacker leaned over frantically. Ben wondered why the stranger would be so careless as to leave Chewie and him armed and free of restraints.
Ben aimed his blaster carefully at the seat. The diameter of the stun blast should take him out, even though he was mostly shielded. At least, that's what Ben thought. He hoped his theory was correct.
He didn't have a chance to confirm that theory as the attacker sensed their presence and froze. Then they quickly turned around and stared right at Ben. At the sight of him, the assailant raised both of their hands in the air. It was a young man.
"Don't shoot!" He begged.
"Why shouldn't I?" Ben asked darkly. "You shot us!"
"I know… I'm sorry about that." The blue man apologized. "I had to get off that planet."
Ben entered the cockpit, his blaster still drawn. Chewie followed behind him with his bowcaster lifted.
"Why do I care about what you had to do?" Ben further interrogated. Chewie barked behind him in agreement.
As they got closer to the blue man, they could further examine his features. He looked like a Pantoran, except for his facial markings which were red instead of yellow. He had two curved horn-like shapes just barely above each eyebrow facing inward, and a diamond shape between both eyebrows. On his cheeks were markings that were much more ambiguous. They looked like the claws of an Acklay, only much more simplified with the longer part starting from below his eyes, and the shorter part towards his ears, culminating to a fine point inwards towards and just past his lips. The blue man had yellow eyes and pointed ears which were ornate with a few simple black earrings just on the outer edges. His hair was silvery-white. The alien looked young, not more than 30ish standard years. He had a long face, but not so long that it was distorted.
His clothes were simple. He was wearing an off-white shirt with a darker jacket made of a leather-like fabric. He had red fingerless gloves that almost looked like bandages wrapped tightly around his hands and simple dark pants with a holster on his hip and cavalier boots.
"I get it ok? A random guy shows up on your ship, immobilizes you, and then takes off into space without warning. I would be just as angry," The blue man smirked sheepishly. "Listen, I can't explain myself if I'm unconscious or dead." He eyed the blaster in Ben's hands.
Ben thought about the man's comment for a moment before finally making a decision, "Chewie, remove the intruder from his seat before he does any more damage to the Falcon," Ben ordered with his blaster still aimed.
Chewie put his bowcaster on his back, walked over to the blue man, and lifted him out of the seat from the scruff of his neck.
"Woah, easy there big guy, I come willingly," the man's arms were still raised in surrender.
"I'll take this," Ben reached to the blue man's thigh and removed his blaster.
Chewbacca then led the man out of the cockpit with Ben until they made it to the main hold. Chewie shoved the man towards the booth, and the man went and sat down. Chewie and Ben hovered over him ready to interrogate.
"Explain yourself," Ben demanded.
The man quietly chuckled, "Would it be too much to ask you to lower the blaster?"
"Yes."
"Fair enough." The blue man took a deep breath and winced as if in pain. He reached up to touch his right shoulder. "My name is Ral Vex. Up until a few hours ago, I was a pirate with a crew that operated on a ship called the Deviant."
"That's a dangerous confession," Ben interrupted.
"Maybe," Ral took his hand away from his shoulder, "But honesty earns trust, and I need your trust."
"Why are you here?" Ben dodged the statement on trust and pressed for Ral to continue with his explanation.
"There was a mutiny. Half the crew turned on the captain for money, and murdered almost all the rest of us." Ral looked down in sorrow. "The mutineers took money to help a mercenary on a job. The job was killing me."
"Killing you?" Ben inquired, "Why would a mercenary pay off half a pirate crew to kill one man?"
"Absolutely no idea!" Ral snickered. "But it's the only reason I'm still alive. The mercenary goes by Dyre. Dyre Sha. This isn't the first time he's come after me. I got away the first time. He's trying to finish a job he was hired for years ago, but he can't do that if someone else gets to me first."
"Who wanted you dead?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Ral continued with a smirk, "We were on Tatooine for ship repairs. I've been hardly more than a cupbearer since I joined the crew. I'm nothing."
Ben walked forward bringing his blaster closer to Ral. "What brought you here?"
Ral raised his forearms defensively, "I was being chased by Dyre and his remaining pirate pals, I saw your ship and saw an escape."
Ben looked wide-eyed at Chewie. "We need to go back. Rey could be in trouble."
Ral stared back and forth at both parties, "Go back to Tatooine? It's too dangerous!"
Ben was losing patience with this invader. He was happily content being with Rey. They were going to explore the galaxy together. This boy was an obstacle in his way. Ben has never been good with obstacles. He and Chewie slowly returned their attention to Ral. "You are a coward." Ben spat. "We aren't afraid of danger."
"That's great!" Ral smiled enthusiastically, "I mean really, I admire your courage." Ral's smile dampened, "but we aren't just outrunning death. Dyre can do things I've never seen anybody do. With a wave of his hand, he can cause objects around him to float! He can enter your mind and torture you. He can sense your presence."
Ben turned his whole body back to Ral, "You mean he has the Force?!" Ben's face fell and became much paler than normal.
Not only had Ral taken off with the Millenium Falcon, leaving Rey on Tatooine without him, but Rey was also on the same planet as an off-the-rails force-sensitive mercenary. Ben was starting to lose his patience.
"You've seen powers like that before?" Ral asked in surprise and intrigue.
"Chewie, start a course back to Tatooine, and give me your extra pair of cuffs." Ben stretched his hand out to Chewie who placed cuffs in it from his utility sash. Chewie then headed for the cockpit while Ben bent down and cuffed Ral.
"If you know what this is, you know how dangerous it is!" Ral urged, trying his best to convey his seriousness.
Ben wasn't used to backing down from a fight. He had never needed to before. Not unless he was commanded by the First Order. Most of the time they let him do as he pleased. And now that they aren't here…
"I don't care about you, or the mercenary on your tail. You left my friend behind when you stole this vessel. I'm going back for her." Ben clenched his jaw as he secured Ral's cuffs.
"Listen, we are in the Expansion Region just past Paasana. I used lightspeed and no offense, but this ship is held together with string. I don't know if it will make it back to the Outer Rim."
"I guess we will find out." Ben lifted Ral by his arm. Ral grunted and clenched his jaw.
"At least drop me off at the nearest planet! Maybe if I'm not there you'll have a better chance at surviving."
Ben led Ral to the crew quarters. He shoved him into the room and sealed the blast door. He locked it as Ral began pounding from the other side.
Ral screamed in a muffled voice, "You are making a huge mistake!"
Ben walked away, satisfied that the irritating Pantoran was locked up, and returned to the cockpit to find Chewie working on the navicomputer.
Chewie trilled with a questioning tone. He wanted to know why Ben had left Ral alive.
"I don't kill people, Chewie. I'm not Kylo Ren anymore." Ben checked the status of the control panel and corrected some panicked miscalculations. "Besides, our new hostage is just an idiot. A scared idiot."
"RRrrrarrgh?" Chewie asked. He wanted to know what Solo was going to do with Ral Vex once they made it back to Tatooine.
"I'll let Rey decide," Ben answered, "She is much more merciful than I am."
Chewie growled in disagreement.
"Just because I didn't kill him back in the cockpit doesn't mean I was being merciful. I needed information." Ben stated.
Chewie quietly chuckled at his young friend's denial. Ben simply glared at him.
"Alright, let's get back to Rey."
The pair took their respective seats at the front, Ben in the pilot's seat and Chewie as co-pilot. As Ben stared at the assortment of controls, his mind became cloudy and flooded with unexpected emotion. It's been so long, Ben thought.
Chewbacca noticed Ben's panic and he pointed to the controls Solo would need, in the order they were meant to be used.
Ben looked up at Chewie with a bewildered expression. He then shook his head and wiped his face. I can do this. He followed Chewie's instruction and got the Millenium Falcon purring the right way. They went to turn around and follow their new course. They prepared for lightspeed. Ben counted down in his head: 3, 2, 1
Ben pushed the levers forward.
All of a sudden the ship sputtered and shut down. The lights in the cockpit flickered and the hallway behind them went dark completely.
"Dank Farrik!" Ben screamed. He banged his hand on the console, "I'm going to destroy this stupid ship."
Chewie growled in offense.
"We don't have time to argue, we need to get this ship put back together." Ben got out of his seat and headed out of the cockpit to assess the situation.
Chewie growled louder and pointed out of the window in a panic.
Ben paused and turned back around. "What do you mean it wasn't the ship that…?" Ben looked to where Chewbacca was referring and caught a glimpse of red and silver metal. Which continued to eclipse the window.
"What is that?" Ben drew closer to get a better view. "It's a cruiser. What is it doing?"
"AhhhhHrrr," Chewie exclaimed.
"It's got us in a tractor beam?!" Ben shouted. He walked closer to the window and watched the giant ship loom over the Falcon, casting a large shadow enveloping everything in darkness. "Why is there always a bigger fish?"
Chewie moved out of the cockpit abruptly, "Rarrghhhh!"
"What protocol are you talking about?" Ben urgently demanded as he followed the Wookiee.
Chewie ran to the sealed crew chambers and attempted to open them. The tractor beam immobilized most of the controls, but with some clever rewiring, Chewie got the door partially opened, and used his Kashyyykian strength to lift it enough that the prisoner Ral was able to slip out underneath.
"What's going on?" Ral asked as Chewie lifted him off the floor. The only response he got was a short huff from the furry giant as he was brought to the main corridor. Ben was there already pulling up sheets of metal from the floor.
Chewie roared and Ben looked up from his work.
"Yes, I figured by protocol, in this particular instance, meant hiding."
Chewie nodded in approval and threw Ral first into the hollow secret compartments.
Ral yelled in surprise and hit the bottom of the compartment hard on his back. He gasped as the air was knocked out of him, "Well, I'll admit this is a better grave than I'd thought I'd get." Ral muttered with a pained expression.
Chewie and Ben followed right after and squeezed themselves on either side of Ral. Solo covered the compartments with sheets of metal. The small space was pitch black and quite warm.
"This is cozy," Ral commented.
"Keep your mouth shut if you want to stay alive," Ben commanded.
"Have we been followed?" Ral asked in a whisper.
"What did I just say?" Ben replied.
"Right… shutting up." Ral went quiet and Ben rolled his eyes. He assumed he was done dealing with fools after Hux's death. Not even the First Order tolerated pirates. And Ben didn't trust the blue alien. He tensed in anticipation. This stranger could out them in seconds. He had no idea what to expect, but he didn't need the Force to sense that it wasn't anything good. He was getting sick of surprises…