Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. So, this is going to be our first really long chapter.
Also, I will be referring to Kylo Ren by that name except when others are referring to him.
Let's get to it.
MangoWango21: Well, my portrayal of Luke will be far different, and more faithful to his Legends self. As for whether or not they'll all be alive...you'll see.
BlackWatcher1234: Well, I did mention that the Hosnian Cataclysm only destroyed about half of the overall Republic fleet. So yes, some Republic remnants will be in this story.
Rico: No, nothing involving Star Wars Visions will be involved in this series.
Chapter 16- The Sin
As the air battle is beginning in the skies over Starkiller Base, down on the ground, things are moving forward as well.
Down at the main facility, the doors leading into the facility open, and Ben leads the way in. His lightsaber is in his hand, but not yet ignited. He's just trying to feel out their surroundings, sensing if anyone is in their immediate vicinity. He then motions for his companions to follow him.
Han, Chewbacca, and Finn all hurry into the facility. Han looks at Finn and says, "You say you worked sanitation? You know this place well?"
"Yeah. I know how to get almost anywhere in here," Finn says.
"Where would they be keeping the girl?" Han asks.
"A few places. I'll take us to the nearest one first," Finn says. He pauses, then says, "Let's go. Follow me."
"Wait," Ben says, holding up a hand. His three companions all look at him, wondering what's up and if Ben has sensed something is wrong.
Ben just stands there, hand up and motionless. He is completely quiet for several long moments, opening himself up to the Force. Then, he finally says, "I…can feel something. Something I haven't felt before. A presence in the Force." He pauses a moment, then says, "Wait. I can see her." He then looks at Finn and asks, "Does she wear an off-white outfit meant for the desert? Her hair done up in three small buns on the back of her head? Maybe 20 years old?"
"Yes," Finn says, a bit amazed that Ben is seemingly able to see her through the Force.
"Your father could never do that," Han says, never having heard of this kind of Force power.
"I know. I…I'm not sure what this is," Ben says. He pauses, then says, "She is strong with the Force. I can sense her strongly." He pauses then, points down the hall and says, "This way."
Ben starts walking down the hallway, following the strong presence he can feel in the Force. Han, Chewie, and Finn all share a look before they follow Ben down the corridor.
Ben rounds the first corner on the path, and immediately comes face to face with a patrol of two stormtroopers. With reflexes honed by years of Jedi training, Ben ignites his saber and slashes it through the air, killing both troopers with a single stroke. The stormtroopers' bodies fall to the ground in unison.
The other three hurry up to him and look down at the troopers he just killed. Ben looks at them and says, "We have to hide the bodies."
Finn and Chewie each grab hold of one of the dead stormtroopers and drag them aside, hiding them behind some crates. They then follow Ben back down the corridor.
As they are beginning their search for Rey, elsewhere in the facility, Kylo Ren is also searching for Rey. To his surprise, he has been unable to just feel her in the Force.
"Sir!" Kylo turns around to see the officer who has come up behind him. The officer stops a pace from Kylo and says, "Sir, she was not found in Hangar 718. But all troops are on alert."
"Put every hangar on lockdown. She's going to try to steal a ship to esca-" Kylo says, but suddenly stops mid word as he feels something. Something he has not felt in a long time. He turns his head in the direction he can feel the disturbance. He knows that presence.
"Ben," he mutters before walking off.
As Kylo Ren is sensing their arrival, Ben continues to lead his group through the base. For almost 10 minutes, Ben leads the group through the corridors of the base, following the Force presence he can feel from Rey while also using his Force powers to feel for any stormtroopers ahead of them. As they move through the corridors, Ben and the others are able to mostly stay out of the path of stormtroopers thanks to Ben. The few they do run into are quickly killed and hidden to avoid alerting the First Order to their presence.
The four of them finally reach a small intersection of corridors, with two of the corridors branching off leading to heavy doors. Finn points to one of the sets of doors and says, "One of the interrogation areas is through there."
Ben holds up a hand a bit, closing his eyes as he opens himself up to the Force, feeling for that presence. It's now stronger than ever. He allows himself to open up fully, then opens his eyes and whips his head towards one of the corridors. "Follow me," he says urgently as he heads down the corridor. Finn follows Ben closely, with Han and Chewie exchanging a look before following.
Ben and Finn reach the corner and turn the corner. And as soon as they come around the corner, they come face to face with Rey.
Rey gasps from the jump scare and raises the blaster she's armed with, but Ben manages to grab the barrel and hold it aside so she doesn't shoot them. He lets it go after a moment once he's confident Rey is not going to hurt them.
"Are you okay?" Finn asks.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Rey responds. She pauses for a moment, then says in a voice full of emotion, "You came for me."
"I'm not gonna turn my back on the first friend I've ever had," Finn says, his voice also a little emotional.
Ben takes a moment to look at Rey, now really seeing her in person. She looks to be maybe 20 years old. Her skin is fairly tanned from a lifetime of living on Jakku. Ben also realizes that she is very attractive, but quickly pushes that aside as he realizes something else. Looking more through the Force than with his eyes, Ben realizes that the Force shines brightly through Rey. He's rarely encountered someone with this much strength in the Force. Only one or two individuals outside the Skywalker family has he ever encountered that had such strength in the Force. Ben almost lets himself vocalize his amazement with her strength in the Force, but stops himself.
Suddenly, Ben realizes that he has been standing here silent for longer than he thought, during which Rey and Finn had exchanged a few words and a hug as well. As Rey pulls back from Finn, she looks at Ben and stops, staring at Ben. The two of them stare at each other for a few long moments. Finn and Han feel a little awkward, but also unable to say anything, recognizing something is happening between them.
"I've seen you before," Rey says in a low voice.
"Same here," Ben says, a little confused at this feeling of deja vu.
"Who are you?" Rey asks.
"I'm Ben Skywalker, son of Luke Skywalker. Who are you?" Ben asks.
"I'm Rey," Rey responds. Ben expects to hear her surname as well, but when she doesn't say anything more than Rey, he accepts she doesn't know her family name.
Suddenly, Han speaks up. "Hey, we can figure out your sense of familiarity later. For now, let's get out of here!" he says urgently. This shakes Ben and Rey out of their daze. Both of them nod, and the group, now numbering 5, head quickly over to a nearby lift to head out of the facility.
(Starkiller Base airspace)
In the skies over the rocky hills and plains of Ilum, a fierce air battle seems to be tearing the sky apart. Personnel on the ground watch in amazement as the fighters engage in their elegant dance of death.
In the cockpit of his Mustang, Daniel has snapped the stick into his gut, turning his Mustang as tight as he can. Glancing down out of the cockpit, he can see the top of the oscillator seemingly rotating below him as his fighter turns and climbs to avoid the TIEs that are trying to get on his tail.
"This is Hammer 9! I got about five TIEs on my tail!" Daniel hears one of his squadronmates' voices over the radio.
Daniel swivels his head, looking for Hammer 9. Sure enough, it only takes him a moment before he sees a Mustang about a thousand feet below him, passing underneath him with 5 TIEs pursuing him.
"This is Hammer 5! I'm on it," Daniel calls over the radio as he wings over and dives to assist his squadronmate. As he goes, he sees a pair of missiles launched from the surface coming up towards him. Daniel snaps into a wide swooping barrel roll as he deploys countermeasures. Both missiles are decoyed and miss by a wide margin.
Daniel dives on the TIEs pursing Hammer 9. He aims his nose out ahead of the trailers and fires his laser cannons. Two of them are destroyed in seconds.
Daniel snaps the stick back and deploys his speed brakes, slowing down and sliding in behind the other three TIEs. Daniel quickly gets a good tone on the trailing TIE and fires a Sidewinder. The missile tracks smoothly to its target and shreds the TIE into pieces.
Daniel continues his pursuit, the TIEs still stuck on the tail of Hammer 9. Daniel quickly centers one of them in his gunsight and dispatches it with a quick burst of laser fire. He then shifts to the last TIE and blows it apart with a burst of laser fire for his 15th kill so far. As soon as the TIE explodes, Daniel snaps the stick into his gut and zoom climbs to 5,000 feet. Looking behind him, he sees another SAM coming up at him. Daniel turns hard right and deploys countermeasures again. The missile goes soaring past his tail without harm to him.
Daniel levels off and looks below him. As he does, he can see one of the Resistance's SFA-181s explode from being shot by a TIE fighter. A second later, another 181 dispatches that TIE with a missile.
Then, Daniel notices one of the other pilots in the Squadron, Hammer 13, is surrounded by about half a dozen Special Forces TIEs. Daniel noses down to pursue them, but, to his horror, one of the TIE's manages a lucky shot that hits 13's right engine.
"This is Hammer 13! I'm hit!" Hammer 13 calls out over the radio. Hammer 13, a young Canadian named Lieutenant Noah Gallo, struggles with the controls, but his tail is distingegrating.
"Hammer 13, you're going down! Punch out!" Daniel shouts.
Gallo wrestles with the controls, trying to get to a better spot. As he does, he can faintly see the Millenium Falcon in the distance. He tries to wrestle his fighter towards it, but quickly realizes he can't go any further as the Mustang noses down. Knowing his time is up, Gallo lets go of the control stick, reaches down between his knees and grabs the ejection handle and yanks up. His canopy is blown free, and a second later, Gallo's ejection seat fires and rockets him out of the falling fighter. The Mustang impacts the ground a few seconds later.
"This is Hammer 1. Hammer 13 is down. I see a good chute," Captain Parker calls out as he sees Gallo's parachute open. He pauses for about half a second before he says, "All pilots, protect Gallo until he gets to the ground!"
Daniel, who had been busy taking revenge for Gallo by shooting down four of the TIEs that had attacked Gallo, moves quickly to protect Gallo, along with his wingman and Gallo's wingman. The three Mustangs form up into a wagonwheel around Gallo as their comrade slowly descends towards the surface in his parachute.
Down on the ground, Ben and the others had been making their way towards the oscillator. And now, they can see the air battle going on. They can already see that the Resistance has lost four X-Wings and two SFA-181s, and they can just spot Lieutenant Gallo's parachute as he drifts down towards the ground.
"They're in trouble," Han says. As he says this, one of the Hammer Squadron's Mustangs streaks low over the ground, trying to shake five TIEs from his tail, just evading the laser bolts streaking all around him.
Han turns around to the rest of the group. "Finn here has a bag full of explosives. I say let's use 'em," he says.
"Alright. Finn, take Rey and find a way to get us through the security doors. Han, you, me, and Chewie will head in and start laying the explosives," Ben says quickly before ordering, "Let's go!"
Finn directs Rey to follow him towards a small generator station right next to the oscillator where he knows they can find machines controlling the security doors. As they go, Ben leads his uncle and Chewbacca into the oscillator itself.
As they enter the oscillator, they immediately find themselves face to face with two stormtroopers. Ben sends one flying with a wave of the Force as he draws and ignites his lightsaber. The other trooper raises his blaster, but Ben quickly kills him by driving his lightsaber through the trooper's chest.
Han and Chewie follow Ben into the halls of the oscillator, blasters at the ready. Ben leads them down the hall to a set of doors they can open. Ben uses the Force to open the doors, revealing almost a dozen stormtroopers on the other side.
Han and Chewie quickly fire their blasters at the stormtroopers, killing three of them in seconds. The stormtroopers quickly return fire. Han and Chewie hurry to take cover on the sides of the hall as Ben twirls his lightsaber, easily blocking the incoming bolts. Ben had pretty much mastered all seven forms of lightsaber combat, and he was an expert with Soresu. None of the incoming blaster bolts get anywhere near Ben, and he is able to deflect three back at the troopers who fired them. With Ben distracting the troopers, Han and Chewie are able to quickly dispatch the remaining stormtroopers with their blasters.
"Let's move," Han urges, and the three of them hurry along the hall. Making their way down the hall and around a corner, they enter a small service passage leading into the oscillator itself. Within just a few seconds, unknown to them, Rey successfully pulls out a crucial part in the generator building, causing a short that makes the door open.
"Huh, girl really knows her stuff," Han says before he, Chewie, and Ben make their way through the service passage and into the inner chamber of the oscillator.
The three of them stop at the railing overlooking the pit in the center of the oscillator. Han then speaks up after a moment and says, "We'll set the charges against every other column."
Chewie then makes a few growls to communicate his idea. Han quickly responds and says, "You're right, that's a better idea. You two go up, I'll go down below," before handing the detonator for the explosives to Chewie and saying, "Detonator. We'll meet back here."
"We get through this, drinks are on me," Ben says with a chuckle. Han smiles a bit before he walks off to start setting the explosives.
Ben and Chewie start heading up the stairs to the upper levels. Ben stops on the level directly above Han, while Chewie continues up a bit further. Slowly, the three of them make their way among the machinery that line the sides of the massive pit. As they find spots that are concealed and with nooks or crannies that are easy to hide things in, they plant the explosive charges that Han had brought with them and press the buttons to activate them.
However, unknown to them, Kylo Ren has come to the oscillator. Despite Ben's skill in hiding himself from the view of Force sensitives, Kylo Ren can still sense him due to their blood relation and personal familiarity. Kylo has already entered the facility itself, and now marches through the halls to the main chamber. As he walks through the halls, stormtroopers in his path form up behind him, recognizing he's on the search for something.
Soon enough, Kylo comes into the main chamber. He walks up to the rails and stops there, looking out across the chamber. He can sense Ben, but not enough to tell where exactly he is. He glances to the side, and then orders the stormtroopers with two words: "Find them."
The stormtroopers begin to break off, either in pairs or alone, to search for the intruders. Han, Chewie, and Ben quickly realize they have company. They begin taking cover behind pieces of machinery to avoid being seen. Stormtroopers go rushing past them, but without spotting any of them. All the time, Rey and Finn are making their way into the oscillator on an upper level.
As the stormtroopers are conducting their search, Kylo is trying to feel out Ben's exact location. Thinking perhaps that if he moves into the center he might be able to sense a direction, he starts walking out onto a narrow metal walkway that extends across the oscillator and over the pit. As he walks out onto the walkway, Han, who had been hiding behind a pillar, spots him.
Han freezes, his gaze locked on the dark figure of Kylo Ren. Emotions flood through Han, memories of his son rushing through him. Han is frozen for several long moments before he comes to the conclusion that he can't put this off any longer. He has to stop his son.
Han steps out from cover and walks towards the walkway. Stopping just before it, Han summons his strength and shouts loudly, "Jacen!"
Kylo Ren immediately freezes, knowing that voice immediately. As he freezes, several stormtroopers rush up to the railing above Han and aim their blasters at Han, ready to fire if he is deemed a threat.
Ben rushes up the railing, surprised that Han is choosing to confront him, but fearful of Han's decision. He then hears a door opening and looks up. He can see Finn and Rey standing on a platform high above him, overlooking the pit. Both of them stare down at the scene below them, fearful of what is about to happen.
Kylo Ren turns slowly to face Han. He faces Han down for a moment before saying, in his voice distorted by his mask, "Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Han takes a deep breath before he slowly begins to walk out onto the walkway. "Take off that mask. You don't need it," Han somewhat demands.
Kylo waits for a moment before he asks, "What do you think you'll see if I do?"
"The face of my son," Han retorts.
The two are still about 30 feet apart from each other. Kylo stares at Han for a moment longer before he reaches up with both hands and presses the small button to loosen his helmet. Then, a moment later, he slowly removes his helmet, revealing the young face Han knows all too well. The face of Jacen Solo, although he has long abandoned that name.
Kylo Ren looks at Han for a moment before he says, "Your son…is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father. So I destroyed him."
Han takes a deep breath before he begins to take slow, deliberate steps towards his fallen son, speaking as he walks, "That's what Snoke wants you to believe. But it's not true. My son is alive."
"No. The Supreme Leader is wise," Kylo responds, trying to deflect his father's points.
"Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you," Han says. He takes his last few steps and stops right in front of Kylo. He pauses for a moment, then mutters, "You know it's true."
"No," Kylo mutters after a moment, but Han can see he is struggling.
Han takes a small step forward,, feeling he can maybe can convince his son. "Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you. And with you, maybe we can finally find your sister and bring her home."
Kylo Ren stands there, his emotions running rampant, his thoughts divided. Han had spoken about Jaina because he felt certain it would reach Jacen. And he was right. Although as Kylo Ren, he had tried to suppress any feeling for his old family, the one member of his family he could not really squash any feelings was his twin sister.
After several long moments, Kylo says, in a voice breaking slightly with emotion, "I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. And I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." He pauses for a moment, then asks, "Will you help me?"
"Yes. Anything," Han says without hesitation.
Kylo stands there for a few moments before he sighs and drops his mask to the walkway next to him. Then, he reaches down and removes his lightsaber from his belt, holding it flat in both hands. He looks down at it for a few seconds before he slowly holds it out to Han.
Han looks at his fallen son before he reaches out and takes the lightsaber in his hand. As he does, outside, the Starkiller Base weapon finally drains away the last remnants of the star it has been draining to charge its weapon. As the last of the star is drained away, the planet is plunged into darkness, and what natural light had been in the oscillator is gone, replaced only by the deep red light of the lights within the oscillator, bathing everyone in a red hue.
In the center of the walkway, Kylo and Han stare into each other's face, emotions filling their eyes. Han still has a hand on the lightsaber, but Kylo is gripping it with both hands tightly. All while this is happening, Chewie, Ben, Rey, Finn, and all the stormtroopers are watching intently.
Then, the silence is broken with a crackle that seems to reverberate throughout the oscillator, the blade of Kylo's lightsaber springs to life. Right into Han's chest and out his back.
Everyone not from the First Order jolts in shock. Then, Chewie throws his head back and bellows in agony.
"No!" Rey screams from the platform as she watches the man who had already taken on an almost father like role to her be impaled.
Ben stumbles back a bit, stunned by what he just witnessed. His mind refuses for a moment to accept what he just saw. Then, white hot rage and hate for his cousin surges within him. "You bastard!" Ben shouts.
Kylo does not really digest the noises coming from Han's companions. All he does is push the saber a little bit further into his father's chest. Kylo holds the saber steady for a few moments before he mutters, just loud enough for Han to hear, "Thank you." He then rips his saber out of Han's chest.
Han, however, is not yet dead. Summoning the last of his fading strength, he manages to reach up and touch his son's face. Then, the last of his strength leaves him, and Han falls over the side of the walkway, disappearing a moment later in the depths of the pit.
Everyone is frozen in shock for a moment. However, Chewie is the first one to recover. Howling in anger and despair, Chewie raises his crossbow and aims it right at Kylo. Chewie fires a bolt, hitting Kylo right in the stomach.
The stormtroopers quickly realize where Chewie is and start turning their blasters towards him. However, Chewie reacts quickly and begins firing his crossbow at any stormtrooper he can see as he hurries towards another maintenance passage leading out of the main chamber.
Ben by now has recovered from his shock and notices that several stormtroopers have noticed. With a furious look on his face, Ben unleashes a Force wave that sends two stormtroopers flying over the edge of the walkways before he draws and ignites his lightsaber. Ben then starts racing for an exit, tearing into every stormtrooper in his path his lightsaber. As he is running towards an exit, Rey and Finn have joined the fight, firing their blasters at the stormtroopers on the levels below.
Chewie finally makes it out of the main chamber. Chewie pulls the detonator out of the bag slung over his shoulder and pauses only for half a second before he presses the button. Immediately, the charges that the trio had been laying begin to explode. The charges and a series of other explosions they set off tear through a narrow section of the oscillator's wall, blasting through it and opening a gap in the wall.
Down on the center walkway, Kylo forces himself to his feet despite the pain from the blaster wound in his stomach. Looking up, he fails to see Ben, who has already made out through an exit. However, he does see Finn and Rey standing on the upper platform, looking down at him. Kylo growls with rage and starts walking in their direction. Rey and Finn turn to escape, with Kylo determined to catch up to them.
Outside the oscillator, Ben pauses amidst a pair of boulders for a moment, allowing himself only a moment to be overcome with rage at his cousin for all he has done before releasing the anger and rage into the Force. But not without a vow to see his cousin pay for all he's done.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
I hope you liked both the surface incursion and air combat. I hope I did a healthy balance of the two.
So, for those wondering about the whole interaction between Ben and Rey at the beginning, I decided to still use the Force dyad concept in this series, as I do like the concept, even if it wasn't done well in the movies. However, in this, obviously, the dyad will be between Rey and Ben, not between Rey and Kylo Ren.
I know, some of you are gonna be disappointed Han still died. But I thought it was a critical plot point in The Force Awakens and in Kylo Ren's journey, and I thought it would help me in my development of Kylo Ren in this story.
Alright. Next chapter will be up soon, and will end the Battle of Starkiller Base. Until it is up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!