Disclaimer: I don't own SW. It belongs to Disney and Lucasfilm.
In the murky darkness, there was no one.
The eyes under the black visor continued to stare, wanting to find some outline of a person. They had to be hiding somewhere, perhaps cloaking their presence. However, the Force revealed nothing of the sort or anything for that matter.
The Force was proven true when the lightning flashed, and no one was in the rain.
A breath of frustration escaped Kylo Ren's helmet as he stared at the empty space before him. He expected the other Jedi students to be here. He had felt them, and it was what his sources had told him, but now there was no one. Not a single being.
Behind him, a female asked, "Where are they?!"
"They must be hiding somewhere!" said another, a man barely heard over the rain and thunder.
Kylo glanced over his shoulder to the handful Knights of Ren behind him. The filter of his helmet turned his frustration into a distorted deep base. "I want them found! Leave no stone unturned!" he ordered.
Before everyone else went their own separate ways, Kylo impatiently rushed out to conduct his own search. His boots splashed in large puddles, sending water everywhere and mud on his soles. Again, he tried to find some visage of a being, looking left and right. Again, he found no one. Kylo kept on walking and searching until the forms of his knights were mere blobs in the distance.
After a while, Kylo came to a stop. Closing his eyes, the booming thunder, the rain pelting the dome of his helmet, and the constant splash of dirt and puddles faded away. Kylo searched through the ebb and flow of the Force for any lifeforms other than himself and his knights. He brushed aside the critters, plants, and others he saw beneath his notice. He searched and searched and searched. He knew he was close, but where?
Then Kylo turned, just as the lightning flashed again over a white cloak, and the outline of a hooded man appeared not too far away. "I was wondering when you would find me," the man said, his soft voice weighed down by age. "Waiting in the rain for so long isn't exactly good for my health."
Kylo, not amused, peered at the man. "Where are the others?"
"Gone," calmly met his demand. "Away from you and Snoke."
Anger sparked, but Kylo stopped himself. "If you tell me where they are, the Supreme Leader may show you mercy," he offered.
The man shook his hooded head, and Kylo heard a small chuckle in the heavy rain. "We both know that won't happen. There's only one way this will end," the man replied.
Kylo frowned under his helmet. "Perhaps you're right," and he reached for his lightsaber hilt.
Pressing the button, the main red blade howled, and the two smaller ones sizzled out of the lateral vents. They crackled in the rain, sparks almost coming out of the serrated edges. Kylo's red lightsaber hissed at the water droplets while he strode forward.
The man stared from under his dripping hood, and the pair of clear gray eyes met Kylo's dark visor. "Strike me down, if you have to. But if you do, I will become more powerful than you can ever imagine."
"I can imagine quite a bit," Kylo retorted before he raised his saber.
The man merely smiled as the blade came down.
Three years prior (24 ABY)…
Ben could barely hear the two men speak as much as he could see them. They talked quietly so no one else would hear. Ben, hidden in the fog as the two men were, used his powers of the Force to conceal himself and listen in with interest.
The first man, tall and proud, asked, "Are you sure about this?" There was an aloof tone, but it hid the concern deep in the first man's heart.
The second, shorter man replied, "It might be for the best."
"Look, I know things haven't been the same since…" The sentence trailed off, but the silence was understood.
A sigh met it. "They haven't."
"That's why I'm saying she should come along. She needs a break from all of this. I can always take her with Ben… Show her the galaxy, if you want."
Her? Having an inkling of whom they meant, Ben quietly stalked across the courtyard of the Jedi Academy with his cloak dragging behind. Concentrating on the two men, Ben heard the shorter one went on. "Thanks, but she has to make that choice. She still doesn't want to leave yet."
"She can't keep herself cooped up here forever."
"I know…" A pause. "I should get going. The new students might be wondering where I've been."
"Take care, Luke."
Ben stood still, so he would not be noticed through the Force. He carefully watched the departing figure head in the direction opposite to Ben's destination. When he was sure the man was gone, he stepped forward-
Snap.
Ben cursed himself. Too focused on the conversation, he failed to notice a broken twig under his boot. Before Ben could run, the tall man came through the fog and asked, "Ben? Is that you?"
Even though he stood at the same height, Ben felt small as he waved at the man. "Uh, hey dad… What brings you around here?"
For a second, the Han Solo of legend looked stumped before he answered. "I came by to see how you're doing… It's been a while, you know. Last time I came, you were barely up to my chin. Now..."
"... Yeah, I know…" Ben glanced down and shuffled his feet. "So, uh, what were you and Uncle Luke talking about?"
"A couple things." There was that familiar Solo vagueness. Then, Ben noticed the gray hairs and slight wrinkles above the eyes staring at him. "Your mom says you haven't been answering her transmissions."
Ben winced in guilt. "Sorry, I didn't mean to," he apologized. "This have getting busy around here. I just haven't…"
His father waved it off. "Don't worry. We're just being nagging parents, that's all."
The words sadly added more to the burden, not ease it. Ben was already keeping secrets from the other students, and he hated doing the same thing to his own family.
A strong hand clasped his shoulder. "Hey," his father said once again, "sure you're doing alright?"
"I'm fine dad," Ben assured with a smile. "How long are you staying?"
"I might be around for a while. After all, your birthday's coming up." An arm wrapped around Ben's shoulders. Ben did not fight back. In fact, he mirrored that classic Han Solo grin staring back at him. "Soon, you're gonna be eighteen! No longer a scrawny kid! I'm going to take you to Maz to celebrate, like the old days."
"You mean like when you let me sip your Corellian Ale?"
"Hey, that's just between us! Your mom doesn't need to know!"
For the first time, father and son laughed together. "Well," Ben started, freeing himself from his father's gentle grip, "this scrawny kid has to get going. Take care dad."
"See you 'round kid."
The words echoed in Ben's ears as he resumed his journey. The jungles were within his reach, and he went deeper, away from the academy and his father. After giving an occasional glance here or there, Ben came to a stop.
"I'm here," he called out and waited.
An answer came from the trees. Ben could not see him, but he felt the suspicion in the presence that answered him. "Well? Do they suspect?"
"No, I don't think so." Ben shook his head. "She's still in the academy. Dad and Master Skywalker won't force her to leave."
The presence relaxed, if only a little. "We must move quickly, then. Tell me her current location, and I will take care of the rest."
"And the others?"
"They're on the move. Soon, we will find a way to end this." Hearing that, Ben's heart ached with doubt, and the presence responded, "Don't fear, Ben. This is the only way to make sure the past doesn't repeat itself. We must do this, for the will of the Force… For the sake of the galaxy."
Ben slowly and hesitantly agreed. "For the sake of the galaxy."
Three years even further (21 ABY)…
He was not sure what he was looking at. There was no color, depth, or distance. He first thought it was a trick that would vanish as quickly as it appeared… but it did not leave. It surrounded and suffocated him like a smothering blanket. There was nothing good or evil about it. No light, no dark. Just the empty void.
And in it, he was alone.
The absolute nothingness pulled, trying to drag him into its embrace. "H-help! Help me!" he cried out, but the words echoed against the nothing.
Suddenly, something tore away through the void. Light, shadow, color flooded his vision. It was so soothing, so warm. From it, a melodious voice sang the nothing away and called to him. "Ben … Ben, wake up..."
"Wha…?" Ben Solo, fifteen years old, stirred. He blinked his eyes until he could finally see the wonderful real world.
Beside him, a voice said, "Ben, we're here."
He rose from his seat and stared at his mother. Against the city lights of New Alderaan, Leia Organa-Solo shone brighter, both in the Force and in her appearance. So entranced, Ben almost rushed out onto the landing platform to follow her light.
After leaving the hovercar, Ben found himself staring up at a man in a dark cloak. "Hello, Ben," the man said. Even with the hood, Ben easily recognized that kind smile.
"Hey, Uncle Luke," he returned.
Concern glinted in the eyes of Luke Skywalker. "Are you okay? You look a little tired."
"I'm fine." Ben restrained a yawn as he hefted his backpack. "I have everything with me. We can go."
Before his uncle could speak, Ben's mother said, "Luke, can you give us a minute?"
Ben darted his eyes to his mother then back to Uncle Luke, who replied, "Sure. We have time."
As Uncle Luke walked away, Ben turned back to his mother, now staring him in the eye. "Are you okay, Ben?" she asked. The softness in her voice stabbed accusingly at Ben's heart.
"Yeah…" he had said it, but his mind screamed otherwise with the vision of the void.
"You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to-"
"No!" Ben exclaimed. Realizing what he said, he looked down in shame and quietly said, "... no. I think I should do this. I have to do this."
Again, the void pulled on Ben, caught in a tug-of-war with his mother's light. There was no way out of this. He had to prove he wasn't another Sithspawn. Ben had to do this. For the Jedi… for his family…
Delicate hands fell on Ben's shoulders, bringing his gaze back up to his mom. The lines on her face creased with sadness, and it hurt Ben to see her like that. "Then promise me, okay?" she asked. "Learn from your uncle, just like I did. And when you're done, come back home. We'll be together, like a family."
"I will," Ben promised with the utmost certainty.
He turned away and joined Uncle Luke, standing by the large freighter on the platform. "Are you ready, Ben?" the Jedi Master asked.
Ben took a deep breath in. "I'm ready, Master Skywalker."
Luke, smiling as always, led Ben up the boarding ramp and called out, "R2, prep the ship for takeoff!"
Not a moment after Ben stepped aboard the ramp, it shuddered and roared to life. He was about to follow after his uncle-his new mentor-into the ship's corridors…
"Ben!"
Ben stopped short of entering the ship and turned to his mother, still waiting by the hovercar. "Take care of yourself, okay?!" she called over the engines.
With the last of his emotions, Ben called back, "I will! I love you, mom!"
His mother smiled. "I know, Ben… I know…"
Ben smiled back to hide the growing pain. He steeled himself as the ramp closed, shutting him from the light of his mother. The only thing left was the pull of the void.
This time, Ben was ready for it.
AN: Never thought I'd touch this again. Basically, these three bits were each a prologue to my rewrites of the sequel trilogy I had initially started soon after TFA's release (and gave up shortly before TROS). I won't ever get back to this, as I've pretty much given up on Star Wars by now. Hopefully, this can be reused in another story later down the line and suit a better purpose than for simple trash. Until next time, take care.
Raika out.