Chapter 2: Captain Ben Solo
Inside the old Rebel base on the planet Crait, commander Poe Dameron is leading the other members of the Resistance to safety as suddenly they see a First Order ship fly into the still open door, followed closely by the Millennium Falcon.
As Poe fires upon the First Order ship, Finn and Rose Tico pop their hands out.
"No wait, it's us, don't shoot!" Finn shouts.
"Finn, Rose, you made it." Poe says as he ceases fire and embraces them. As they finish embracing, they see Chewbacca exit the Falcon.
"Chewie, where's Rey?" Finn asks. Chewbacca looks at Finn confused and when notices General Leia Organa, he rushes over to her and hugs her close.
"Ow, Chewie. I… missed you, too." Leia says as Chewbacca smothers her.
"Chewie, what are you doing?" A voice calls out from the Falcon. Captain Ben Solo climbs down the ramp to see Chewbacca embracing his mother.
"M…mom?" Ben says as he begins walking towards her in disbelief. Before he can get close, several Resistance fighters step before him with blasters ready to fire.
"Poe, what the hell's going on?" Ben asks, putting his hands up. "Why are you all mad at me, and… how is my mother here?"
"Don't play dumb… AAAAHHHH!" Poe is lifted up by Chewbacca, who roars in his face.
"Chewie, put him down!" Finn shouts as he struggles to help free Poe.
"Chewie, come on, let him go." Ben says. Chewie complies and drops Poe, still roaring at him.
"3PO, what's he saying?" Poe asks, getting to his feet.
"He asks why you are angry with Ben Solo, and also how General Leia… survived Hosnian… Prime." C-3PO answers.
"Hosnian… the General wasn't on Hosnian Prime." Poe answers, much to Ben and Chewbacca's confusion. Chewie roars out in anger.
"This says otherwise." Ben says angrily as he pulls out a hologram message, with Leia on it.
"Ben, if you and your father are listening, I just want you to know that I will always be with you. Like I always told you, keep fighting and never let the spirit of the Resistance die. May the Force be with you both."
The transmission ends as an explosion happens around Leia on the hologram. The Resistance all stare in shock at Ben, unsure what to say.
"Ben, when was that message sent?" Leia says, walking up to Ben.
"The day the First Order used Starkiller Base to destroy the Republic. It's what convinced my father to come back and join the Resistance." Ben says, "Where is my father anyway?" Everyone looks away at the mention of Han Solo. Before Leia can break the silence they are interrupted by Commander Larma D'Acy.
"The First Order is here. They're preparing for a ground assault." She says as she sees the walkers and battering ram cannon at the ready. Ben takes the binoculars from her and notices the command ship.
"Who's ship is that?" Ben asks.
"That is the ship of… Kylo Ren." D'Acy answers, feeling awkward standing next to the man she just moments ago believed was Kylo Ren.
"Kylo? Kira." Ben says to himself, realizing what is happening.
"Who's Kira?" Finn asks curiously.
"If Kylo Ren is who I think it is, I think I know why you weren't too happy to see me." Ben answers. "If I'm here, I imagine your friend Rey is where I'm supposed to be. And I don't imagine they'll be any happier to see her." Marching back to the Falcon, he motions for the others to follow.
"Where are we going, Ben?" Leia asks.
"Way the hell away from here." Ben answers. "Poe, Finn, do you know how to work the Falcon's guns?"
"I can." Finn says.
"I can fly and shoot anything." Poe says. "But what's your plan, Ben?"
"Rain fire and escape in the chaos. It's not ideal, but it's possible death vs certain death." Ben says, which Poe and Leia seem to stand behind.
"I can get behind that." Poe says. "General, what's your order?"
"Onto the Falcon." Leia orders. As they all rush to get on they all step aboard the Falcon, Lt. Connix sees Leia walking slowly.
"General, are you okay?" She asks.
"It's just… this is giving me memories back to the days of fighting the Empire." Leia answers. "Looking at him is like looking at Han back on Endor."
On the Falcon, Finn seems thrown off by how the Falcon looks much cleaner from the way it looked when he and Rey first flew it on Jakku.
"Something wrong, Finn?" Ben asks.
"Yeah, the Falcon looks clean for a ship that was sitting in Nima Outpost for years." Finn says.
"I've never taken the Falcon to Jakku." Ben says. "In fact I haven't been to Jakku since I was a kid."
"After we get out of here, we're gonna need to get each other up to speed on what we've each been going through." Finn says as he mans the guns.
"Everyone strap in, this is gonna get bumpy." Ben warns them.
Flying out from under the blast door, Ben corkscrew spins the Falcon between the walkers and TIE fighters on Poe and Finn mow down the ships chasing them. Their respective flying and shooting abilities essentially turn the Falcon into a giant Gatling gun. Most of the fighters are now destroyed, leaving only the walkers to take on the Falcon. Realizing he can't fight them off forever, Ben sees an opportunity for the Falcon to escape.
As the Falcon takes off into hyperspace, General Hux can't help but stand in shock at the fact that one freighter took down an entire wave of TIE fighters. He turns to Kylo Ren, waiting for him to give the next order.
"Do we follow the girl, sir?" Hux asks.
"The girl wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere near here." Ren answers, causing Hux to become confused.
"If she's not here, then who was on that ship?" Hux asks. "Are you trying to say that-" Hux is interrupted by Ren choking slamming him against the wall.
"Set a course for Coruscant." Ren orders the pilot.
Back on the Millennium Falcon, Ben sets a course for Ach-To to help the Resistance seek sanctuary.
"Alright, we're safe for now. We should be arriving at Ach-To in 0300 hours." Ben informs the Resistance.
"Thank Ben." Poe says."Now you're sure Skywalker would give us sanctuary?"
"It's the only place in the Unknown Regions I could think of that's Resistance friendly." Ben answers.
"I have to ask this." Poe says. "How did you get here? And where were you originally coming from?"
"I was coming from the planet Exogol in the Unknown regions." Ben answers. It's an ancient planet of Sith cultists. I was captured by the First Order and brought to Exogol. There, Kira Ren killed the cultists in an attempt to resurrect Darth Sidious."
"So she killed the Emperor to prevent him from coming back to power?" Finn asks. "But where do you come in?"
"She believed that ruling alone wouldn't be right and that it was destiny that she rule alongside the grandson of Darth Mére." Ben answers, causing Leia great confusion.
"Mére?" She asks. "You mean Vader?"
"Is that what she was named in… wherever this is?" Ben asks.
"She?"
"Padmé Amidala." Leia nearly loses balance and falls back at hearing her mother's name.
"I… I haven't heard that name in years." Leia comments. "She was a Sith, where you're from? Then who was Anakin Skywalker to you?"
"Anakin Skywalker was the Liberator of Tatooine, and Political Enemy #1 to Sidious back when he was still Chancellor." Ben answers. "They said that's where my mom got her rebellious spirit. Though judging by what you've said, I'm assuming that's not the case here."
"No, not exactly." Leia answers. "Why don't we wait to see Luke to get you up to speed."
"Fair enough." Ben says.
As he sits back in the pilot's seat, he feels a disturbance in the Force. It feels as if someone is coming in the cockpit with him.
"Who's that?" He calls out.
"This is my world, not yours!" The voice of Kylo Ren calls out. Ben looks in a mirror on the Falcon to see Kylo Ren standing there. He pulls out his blaster and shoots the mirror and the image of Kylo Ren disappears. He then hears the seductive cackle or Kira Ren.
"Oh darling." She calls out. "You can't hide from me forever. Wherever you are, I will find you"
"Get out of my head!" Ben yells out. Poe and Leia rush in when they hear the commotion."
"Ben, are you okay?" Poe asks.
"I'm fine now. It was just… well I don't really know how to say."
"Ben." Leia says in a motherly tone. "Tell me everything."
End of the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am a big fan of The Last Jedi, so no reviews hating on it. There are so many more story arcs I want to explore with the story. I'm still trying to figure out what the next chapter will be. Until then, happy reading.